a town of Scotland, in Clydesdale, seated on the river Clyde, eleven miles south-east of Glasgow; from whence the noble family of Hamilton take their name, and title of duke. The town is seated in the middle of a very agreeable plain; on one side of which the Hamilton family has a large park, which is near seven miles in circumference, enclosed with a high wall, and well stocked with fallow deer. The rivulet called Avon runs through the park, and falls into the river Clyde, over which last there is a bridge of free-stone. W. Long. 4. 16. N. Lat 55. 58. The original name of this place, or the lands about it, was Cadzow or Cadzow, a barony, granted to an ancestor of the noble owner, on the following occasion. In the time of Edward II. lived Sir Gilbert de Hamilton, or Hampton, an Englishman of rank; who happening at court to speak in praise of Robert Bruce, received on the occasion an insult from John de Spener, chamberlain to the king, whom he fought and slew. Dreading the resentment of that potent family, he fled to the Scottish monarch, who received him with open arms, and established him at the place possessed by the duke of Hamilton. In aftertimes the name was changed from Cadzow to Hamilton: and in 1445 the lands were erected into a lordship, and the proprietor Sir James sat in parliament as Lord Hamilton. The fame nobleman founded the collegiate church at Hamilton in 1451, for a provost and several prebendaries. The endowment was ratified at Rome by the pope's bull, which he went in person to procure.—Hamilton house or palace is at the end of the town; a large heavy pile, with two deep wings at right angles with the centre: the gallery is of great extent; and furnished, as well as some other rooms, with most excellent paintings.

Anthony, Count of, was descended from a younger branch of the dukes of Hamilton, and born in Ireland about the year 1646. His mother was sister to the duke of Ormond, then viceroy of that country. The troubles of that period compelled his family to retire to France while he was only an infant, and he was brought up in the language and religion of that country. He made different visits to England in the reign of Charles II. but he was prevented from obtaining any public employment in consequence of his religious opinions, to which he constantly adhered. He received from James II. a regiment of infantry in Ireland; but when that monarch's affairs came to be in a ruined condition, Count Hamilton accompanied him back to France, which he never afterwards quitted. On account of his wit and politeness he was very much admired, as well as for the many estimable qualities of his heart. His writings are lively, yet his conversation was serious, and he perhaps indulged too much his propensity to satire. He died in the year 1720 in the 74th year of his age.

The works of the count in the French language were printed in 6 vols. 12mo. in 1749, which consist of poems, fairy tales, and his Memoirs of Count Grammont, the best of all his compositions, of which Voltaire said, "it is of all books that in which the most flender ground-work is set off with the gayest, most lively and agreeable style." A splendid edition of it, adorned with fine engravings from original portraits, was published by the late Lord Orford, at his own private press.