HAMON

hamon, jean louis (1821-1874), french painter, was born at plouha on the 5th of may 1821. at an early age he was intended for the priesthood, and placed under the care of the brothers lamennais, but his strong desire to become a painter finally triumphed over family opposition, and in 1840 he courageously left plouha for paris--his sole resources being a pension of five hundred francs, granted him for one year only by the municipality of his native town. at paris hamon received valuable counsels and encouragement from delaroche and gleyre, and in 1848 he made his appearance at the salon with "le tombeau du christ" (musee de marseille), and a decorative work, "dessus de porte." the works which he exhibited in 1849--"une affiche romaine," "l'egalite au serail," and "perroquet jasant avec deux jeunes filles"--obtained no marked success. hamon was therefore content to accept a place in the manufactory of sevres, but an enamelled casket by his hand having attracted notice at the london international exhibition of 1851, he received a medal, and, reinspired by success, left his post to try his chances again at the salon of 1852. "la comedie humaine," which he then exhibited, turned the tide of his fortune, and "ma soeur n'y est pas" (purchased by the emperor) obtained for its author a third-class medal in 1853. at the paris international exhibition of 1855, when hamon re-exhibited the casket of 1851, together with several vases and pictures of which "l'amour et son troupeau," "ce n'est pas moi," and "une gardeuse d'enfants" were the chief, he received a medal of the second class, and the ribbon of the legion of honour. in the following year he was absent in the east, but in 1857 he reappeared with "boutique a quatre sous," "papillon enchaine," "cantharide esclave," "devideuses," &c., in all ten pictures; "l'amour en visite" was contributed to the salon of 1859, and "vierge de lesbos," "tutelle," "la voliere," "l'escamoteur" and "la soeur ainee" were all seen in 1861. hamon now spent some time in italy, chiefly at capri, whence in 1864 he sent to paris "l'aurore" and "un jour de fiancailles." the influence of italy was also evident in "les muses a pompei," his sole contribution to the salon of 1866, a work which enjoyed great popularity and was re-exhibited at the international exhibition of 1867, together with "la promenade" and six other pictures of previous years. his last work, "le triste rivage," appeared at the salon of 1873. it was painted at st raphael, where hamon had finally settled in a little house on the shores of the mediterranean, close by alphonse karr's famous garden. in this house he died on the 29th of may 1874. hampden, henry bouverie william brand, 1st viscount[1] (1812-1892), speaker of the house of commons, was the second son of the 21st baron dacre, and descended from john hampden, the patriot, in the female line; the barony of dacre devolved on him in 1890, after he had been created viscount hampden in 1884. he entered parliament as a liberal in 1852, and for some time was chief whip of his party. in 1872 he was elected speaker, and retained this post till february 1884. it fell to him to deal with the systematic obstruction of the irish nationalist party, and his speakership is memorable for his action on the 2nd of february 1881 in refusing further debate on w. e. forster's coercion bill--a step which led to the formal introduction of the closure into parliamentary procedure. he died on the 14th of march 1892, being succeeded as 2nd viscount by his son (b. 1841), who was governor of new south wales, 1895-1899. footnote: [1] an earlier viscountcy was bestowed in 1776 on robert hampden-trevor, 4th baron trevor (1706-1783), a great-grandson of the daughter of john hampden, the patriot; it became extinct in 1824 by the death of the 3rd viscount.