James Hamilton FLS (27
November 1814 – 24 November 1867) was a Scottish minister and a prolific author
of religious tracts.
Born in Paisley, Scotland, seven
miles west-southwest of Glasgow, Hamilton was the eldest son of William
Hamilton, a Church of Scotland minister of Strathblane and religious author of
local renown. James Hamilton was therefore destined from an early age to enter
the ministry, and to that end he studied at the universities of Glasgow and
Edinburgh. He enjoyed courses on the natural sciences, particularly chemistry
and botany, and contemplated a career in one of those fields.
He became assistant to Robert Smith Candlish at St. George's Church in
Edinburgh, in 1838, and upon finishing his college studies, he was licensed to
preach by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1839 and "commenced his clerical life
as assistant minister in the small secluded parish of Abernyte, in Perthshire".
In January 1841, he was formally ordained as a minister, at Roxburgh Church in
south Edinburgh, and in July of that year became pastor of the National Scotch
Church, Regent Square, London, where he would remain until his death.[2] In 1849
he became editor of the Presbyterian Messenger, and in 1864 editor of
Evangelical Christendom, the organ of the Evangelical Alliance. He was an
incessant literary worker and the author of some of the most widely circulated
books of his day. His best known works were: Life in Earnest (London, 1845), of
which 64,000 copies had been sold before 1852; The Mount of Olives (1846); The
Royal Preacher (1851), a homiletical commentary on Ecclesiastes; and Our
Christian Classics (4 vols., 1857–59). Following his death, his collected works
were published in London (6 vols., 1869–73); and his Select Works appeared in
New York (4 vols., 1875). In addition to his religious writings, Hamilton
continued to have an interest in botany throughout his life, publishing several
articles in journals on the subject.
Download the
Life of James Hamilton in pdf
format
The Harp on the Willows
Remembering Zion, The Church in the House, The Dew of Heron, and Destination of
the Jews by the Rev. James Hamilton of London (1844) (pdf)
Hamilton, James (1869). Memoir
and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns, M.A., of Hampstead. London: James Nisbet & Co.
Hamilton, James (1883a). Works
of the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., F.L.S. Vol. 1. London: James Nisbet &
Co.
Hamilton, James (1883b). Works
of the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., F.L.S. Vol. 2. London: James Nisbet &
Co.
Hamilton, James (1883c). Works
of the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., F.L.S. Vol. 3. London: James Nisbet &
Co.
Hamilton, James (1883d). Works
of the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., F.L.S. Vol. 4. London: James Nisbet &
Co.
Hamilton, James (1883e). Works
of the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., F.L.S. Vol. 5. London: James Nisbet &
Co.
Hamilton, James (1883f). Works
of the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., F.L.S. Vol. 6. London: James Nisbet &
Co. |