London he taught at his house, No. 25 Cecil Street, Strand, and then in Gower Street. As a rule his classes were for adults only. His best classes he found to be those numbering from fifty to a hundred pupils. Some fathers and grandfathers, who had stipulated 'not to be called upon to recite' publicly, soon proved the most lively pupils in the class. From the middle of May to 16 Nov. 1825 (six months) he had ten very ignorant parish-school boys to live in his house. At the end of this period they passed a fair examination in translating Latin (the Gospel of St. John and 'Cæsar's Commentaries'), and also in French and Italian. The expenses of this experiment were partly borne by John Smith, M.P. Hamilton's system and his plan of advertising (on which by 1826 he had spent more than 1,000l.) were much attacked by school-masters and others. A good-humoured and forcibly written defence of his system by Sydney Smith (a stranger to him) appeared in the 'Edinburgh Review' for June 1826 (reprinted in Essays of Sydney Smith). The Hamiltonian system was also defended in the 'Westminster Review.' Hamilton died at Dublin, whither he had gone to lecture, on 16 Sept. 1829 (Gent. Mag. 1829, vol. xcix. pt. ii. p. 477), in his sixtieth year. Among the writers who have written on his system are Alberte, Donate, Hartnell, Santagnello, Schwarz, Tafel, and Wurm (see also Fletcher, Cyclopædia of Education, s.v. 'Hamilton, J.')
[Hamilton's History, Principles, Practice, and Results ... of the Hamiltonian System, Manchester, 1829, 12mo; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
HAMILTON, JAMES, the elder (1749–1835), physician, son of Robert Hamilton (d. 1787), professor of divinity at Edinburgh, was born at Edinburgh in 1749, and studied medicine there and on the continent. He early became physician to the Royal Infirmary, to George Heriot's Hospital, and other hospitals in Edinburgh, and had a large practice. He died at Edinburgh on 27 Oct. 1835. For many years he was a picturesque figure in the city, retaining very old-fashioned manners and dress; he is said to have been the last person who wore the three-cornered cocked hat. He was most noted for his work entitled 'Observations on the Utility and Administration of Purgative Medicines,' 1805; 8th edit. 1826. Numerous American editions were also published, and it was translated into Italian, German, and French. Hamilton was thoroughly old-fashioned in his treatment, believing in free blood-letting and profuse purging, and in strong mercurial treatment for syphilis. He was very jocular, kind-hearted, and athletic. There are amusing accounts of him in the 'Lives' of Sir Astley Cooper and Sir R. Christison, and in Kay's 'Edinburgh Portraits.' Till lately the works of three James Hamiltons were catalogued as by one man in the 'British Museum Catalogue:' (1) the above-mentioned, always known as James Hamilton, senior; (2) James Hamilton, junior [q. v.], who lived next door to him in St. Andrew's Square, Edinburgh; and (3) James Hamilton, M.D. (1740-1827), successively of Dunbar, Edinburgh, Leeds, and London, a friend of John Wesley, who is depicted with him in a well-known print by Kay.
[Gent. Mag. 1836, i. 102; W. Newbigging, Harveian Oration, Edinburgh, 1838; Life of Sir Astley Cooper, i. 164, 165; Life of Sir R. Christison, i. 140, 141; Sir A. Grant's Story of Edinburgh Univ.; Old and New Edinburgh, ii. 139, 168, 301; Dechambre's Dict. Encycl. des Sciences Medicales, 4th ser. vol. xii.]
HAMILTON, JAMES, the younger (d. 1839), professor of midwifery in Edinburgh University, was son of Alexander Hamilton (1739-1802) [q. v.], and trained by him as his successor. From his twenty-first year he assisted his father in his practice, and appears to have shown a similar if not greater pugnacity and obstinacy in standing up for his personal and professional rights. In 1792 a pamphlet was published entitled 'A Guide for Gentlemen studying Medicine at the University of Edinburgh,' by J. Johnstone, esq. (pseud.), in which the Hamiltons were praised and other professors censured. Dr. James Gregory (1753-1821) [q. v.] charged Alexander Hamilton with its authorship; he denied the charge, and was exonerated by the senate. Gregory then charged James Hamilton with writing it. Hamilton's reply provoked Gregory to thrash him, for which he brought an action against Gregory, and recovered 100l. damages. In 1800 he succeeded his father in the chair of midwifery, after having partly fulfilled its duties for two years. In 1815 he made a strong effort to get his subject recognised among those which every medical student was required to attend, but failed, owing to the hostility of Gregory and others. In 1824 he sought to gain his end through the town council, for which the senate strongly censured him. This further embittered the quarrel between the town council and the senate, and finally a royal commission was issued in 1827 to inquire into matters in dispute. The question of the requirement of midwifery as a compulsory subject was settled in Hamilton's favour in 1830, and in 1832 he got the resolutions censuring him annulled. His pugnacity was carried into his lectures, where he was conspicuous for his severe criticisms. Sir R. Christison calls him
