The treatise entitled Natural Religion Insufficient, and Revealed Necessary, to Man s Happiness in his present /State (1714) is an able reply to some of the arguments of Lord Herbert and of Blount ; the Great Concern of Salvation (1721), still read, handles questions of practical and experi mental religion with great earnestness and in a manner that exhibits favourably one of the best types of piety current in his time ; the Memoirs written by himself, which have been frequently reprinted, are similarly interesting and
valuable.HAM (OH), the second son of Noah (Gen. v. 32), and the progenitor of Gush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan (Gen. x. 6). On the assumption that these early genealogies are geographical rather than personal or even ethnological, the name Ham, which in Hebrew radically signifies "hot," would seem to indicate the torrid zone ; and this inference, though not supported, so far as has been hitherto dis covered, by any corresponding explanation of the names of Shena and Japheth, at least harmonizes well with the fact that on the whole Shem seems intended to denote the in termediate and Japheth the northern regions of the world as known to the compiler of the Book of Genesis. The attempt has sometimes been made to identify Ham with Kerne or Chemi, an old native name of Egypt, signifying black," and having reference, it is supposed, to the colour of the soil. But this identification has no adequate etymo logical support (see Lepsius in Herzog and Plitt s Encykl, i. 166); and the allusions in several of the Psalms to Egypt as the land of Ham (Ps. cv. 23, cvi. 22) are not inconsistent with the belief that the latter name was primarily used in a much wider and less local sense. The solitary incident regarding Ham related in Gen. ix. 20-27 seems intended to indicate, from the Israelite point of view, the immodest and sensual tendencies of the Canaanites and other " Hamitic " peoples.
HAM, a small town of France, in a marshy district on the left bank of the Somme, about 40 miles south-east of Amiens, on the railway between Amiens and Pvheims. It had in 1876 a population of only 3122 ; but historically it is a place of very considerable importance. From the 9th century onwards it appears as the seat of a lordship which, after the extinction of its hereditary line, passed in succession to the houses of Coucy, Enghien, Luxembourg, llohan, Vendome, and Navarre, and was finally united to the French crown on the accession of Henry IV. In 1108 an abbey of canons regular of the congregation of France was founded at Ham ; and it continued to exist till the great Revolution, the revenue of its abbot about that time amounting to 15,000 livres. The abbey church (Notre Dame) dates from the 12th century, but in April 1760 all the inflammable portions of the building were destroyed by a conflagration caused by lightning, and during the present century a process of restoration has been carried out under the direction of M. Corroyer. Of special note are the bas reliefs of the nave and choir, executed in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the crypt of the 11th century, which contains the sepulchral effigies of Odo of Ham and his wife Isabella of Bethencourt. The castle, founded by Odo in the 12th century, was rebuilt in the 13th and extended in the 14th, and its present appearance is mainly due to Louis of Luxembourg, count of St Pol, who between 1436 and 1470 not only furnished it with outworks, but gave such a thickness to the towers and curtains, and more especially to the great tower or donjon which still bears his motto Mon Myeux, that they would offer a long resistance even to modern artillery (Viollet-le-Duc). It forms a rectangle 395 feet long by 263 feet broad, with a round tower at each angle and two square towers protecting the curtains. The pastern and western sides are each defended by a detr.i-lune. The Constable s Tower, for so the great tower is usually called in memory of St Pol, has a height of about 100 feet, and the thickness of the walls is 36 feet ; the interior is occupied by three large hexagonal chambers in as many stories. As the castle of Ham has frequently been used as a state prison both in ancient and modern times, the list of those who have tasted its hospitality is an interesting one, including Joan of Arc, Louis of Bourbon, the ministers of Charles X., Louis Napoleon, Cavaignac, and Lamoriciere. Louis Napoleon was there for six years, and at last effected his escape in the disguise of a workman. During 1870-71 Ham was several times captured and recaptured by the belligerents.
A view and plan of the town will be found in Caspar Mevian s Topograplda Gallice, Frankfort, 1656 ; and the former is copied in the Gentleman s Magazine, 1831. See also De Feuillide, Le Chateau de Ham, 1842; and Ch. Gomart, Nam, son chateau, 1864.
HAMADAN, a town of Persia, in the province of Irak- Adjemi, 162 miles W.S.W. of Teheran, in the district of the Djebal at the foot of the Elvend or Arwand Mountain, the Orontes of the ancients. It is a busy place of about 50,000 inhabitants, and has large and well-stocked bazaars. Its principal industry is the manufacture of copper wares. Gold is collected in the streams traversing the town, and the surrounding country is remarkable for its beauty and fertility. Every quarter is shut off from its neighbours by gates which are closed at night. The chief objects of interest are the tombs of Esther and Mordecai, and of the Arabian philosopher Avicenna. The former, constructed of black wood, are adorned with Hebrew inscriptions which may be seen figured in Ker Porter s Travels. According to these, the pavilion or temple over the tombs was erected in the year of the creation 4474. The ordinary inhabitants of Hamadan attach more importance to a stone image of a lion which they assert was set up by Belinas a magician, to mitigate the cold from which their city suffers severely. " Hamadan," says Hamadani, echoing a common Persian complaint, " is the most hateful of towns ; its children are old men for ugliness, and its old men are children for silliness. " At the same time the town has produced many eminent men, among whom are Abu 1 Fadhl Ahmed Hamadani himself, Zafer ed Din the Persian poet, and Zamiri. The origin of the city is carried back by Hischam el Kelbi to Hamadan a grandson of Shem, but other writers are contented with a less antiquity. Its claims to be identified with the Ecbatana of the classical authors have been treated of under Ecbatana. The present town has almost no ancient remains, and especially there are no sculptured works. See Meynard, Lictionnaire geo- grapkique de la Perse.
cities of Syria (Gen. x. 18), situated in the valley of the Orontes, 110 English miles N. (by E.) of Damascus. It finds a place among the northern boundaries of the Holy Land (Num. xxxiv. 8), and is frequently mentioned in Old Testa ment history (Num. xiii. 21, 2 Sam. viii. 9, 1 Kings viii. 65, 2 Kings xviii, 34, 2 Chron. viii. 3, Isa. x. 9, Amos vi. 2). The city lies in a narrow valley, the pass south of it being probably the " entering in of Hamath " (1 Kings viii. 65). The Orontes flows winding through it, and is spanned by four bridges. On the south-east the houses rise 150 feet- above the river, and there are four other hills, that of the Kalah or castle being to the north 100 feet high. Twenty- four minarets rise from the various mosques. The houses are principally of mud, and the town stands amid poplar gardens with a fertile plain to the west. The castle is ruined, the streets are narrow and dirty, but the bazaars are good, and the trade with the Bedawin considerable. The numerous water-wheels (naurak), of enormous dimen sions, raising water from the Orontes are the most reman; -
able features of the view. The population is stated in
