Hamline, Leoxidas Lent, a bishop of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, was born in Burlington, Conn., jMay 10, 1797. His early education was obtained with some view to the Christian ministry; but, arriving at manhood, he studied law, and was admitted to tlie bar in Lancaster, Ohio. He married in Zauesville, Ohio, and settled there to practice his profession. The death of a little daughter in 1828 led him to seriously consider his own moral state, and he joined the Methodist Episcifnl Church in the autumn of 1828. Soon after he Avas li- censed to exhort, then (1829) to preach: Li 1832 ho was received on trial in the Ohio Conference, and ap- pointed to Granville Circuit. In 1833 he travelled Ath- ens Circuit, and in 1834 and 1835 he was stationed at Wesley Chapel, Cincinnati. In 1836 he was elected as- sistant editor of the Weste7-n Christian A drorate, whh the Rev. Dr. Charles Elliott. Wlicn the L((di(s Roj.or- itory was established in January, 1841, Hamline was as- signed to the work of editing tliat journal. He remain- ed in this position until, in 1844, he was elected one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This office he fiUed with great usefulness for eight years, when ill health compelled him to resign it to the General Con- ference of 1852. His name was reattached to the list of members of the Ohio Conference, and he was grantc<l a superannuated relation. In 1857 he removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, his former confidential friendship with Dr. ElUott, who resided in that place, leading to this change. In an account of his life which bishop Ham- line wrote for his family, he thus refers to the j^ars from 1852 to 1860 : "For eight years I have been superannu- ated, and God has ' tried me as silver is tried ,-' but ho has often sweetened those trials by his presence in a marvellous manner. And now day by day my iiUow- ship is with the Father, and with his son Jesus Christ. Though almost helpless, and dependent on my devoted, affectionate wife for personal attentions, whicli her ex- emplary patience never wearies in bestowing on me (thanks be to thy name, O God, for such a gift !), yet I am far more contented and cheerful than in tlie be ft days of my youth." He was taken severely ill Jan. 25. 18(37. On the 10th of February, having called his fam- ily in to pray with them once more, " he uttered remark- able expressions of adoration of the Saviour on the throne in special reference to his humiliation, crucifixion, res- urrection, ascension, exaltation, etc. He prayed for his family, the Church, for his own Conference (the Ohio), the missions, the country, the Avorld. All the forenoon he expressed much thankfulness for everything. He then had occasion to drinii, and his. paiiiful thirst re- minded him of the exclamation on the cross when the Saviour said, ' I thirst.' He then burst into tears, and broke out again in praise. He then spoke of his pres- ent state as a fresh baptism into Christ, into his glorious name, and exclaimed, ' 0 wondrous, wondrous, wondrous love !' When Mrs. Hamline raised the windov,--shade at smiset he exclaimed, 'O beautiful sky! beautiful heaven !' " He died on the 22d of February. Of the character and attainments oi bishop Hamline, Dr. El- liott says, "My pen is wholly incompetent to draw out in its fidl extent an adequate portrait of his high and holj' character, whetlier it regards his natural talents or his extensive attainments, but especially the sanc- tity and purity of his religious life. As a preaehcr. he was in the first rank in all respects that regard tlie finished pulpit orator. His style as a writer would com- pare favorably Avith the best writers in the English language. He had no superior for logic, argument, or oratorj". He was the subject of much bodily aflliction, and j-et, amid excruciating pains, he retained the full exercise of his intellectuar powers to the verj- last hour of his life. The leading characteristic of him in his sufferings was his complete patience and resignation to the will of God." His principal writings (chiefly ser- mons) are given in the Worls of L. L. Hamline, D.D.. edited by the Rev. F. G. Hihbard, D.D. (N. York, 1869, 8vo).— See Minutes of Conferences, 1866 ; Meth. Quar!.
iiam:\iahlekoth
52
HA3IMERLIN^
JRer. October, 18G6; Palmer, Life ami Letters of Leoni- ,his L. IhimUne, D.D. (N. Y. 18G6, 12rao).
Hammahlekoth. See Sela-ham-Matilekoth.
Hamman, or rather Ch.vmm.vn C^an, only in the plur. htimmanim'), signifies imafjes, idols of some kind lor ididatrous worship (and so the Sept. and Vulg. un- derstand it). It is rendered "images" in Lev. xxvi, oO; 2 Chron. xiv, 5; xxxiv, 7; Isa. xvii, 8; xxvii, 9; Ezck. vi, 4, 6; but in the margin almost invariablj' '•sun images" In these passages Hammanim is several times joined with .1 s/fenw— statues of Astarte; while from '/Chron. xxxiv, 4, it appears further that the Ham- manim stood upon the altars of Baal. See Asiierah; Baai- Kimchi, and the Arabic of Erpenius, long ago explained the word by suns, images of the sun ; and both tliis interpretation and the thing itself are now clearly illustrated by ten Punic cippi with inscriptions, conse- crated to Baal llumman, i. e. to Baal the solar, Baal the sun. (See the whole subject discussed in Gesenius's Thes. Ileh. p. 489-491.) The form chamman, solar, is from iian, cham'mah, the sun ; and the pliural Hamma- nim, in the Old Testament, is put elliptically for Baalim Hammanim, and is found in the same context as else- ■where Baalim, images of Baal. — Bastow, s. v.