Part 232 (1/2)
HAMPDEN, JOHN, a famous English statesman and patriot, cousin to Oliver Cromwell, born in London; pa.s.sed through Oxford and studied law at the Inner Temple; subsequently he settled down on his father's estate, and in 1621 entered Parliament, joining the opposition; he came first into conflict with the king by refusing to contribute to a general loan levied by Charles, and subsequently became famous by his resistance to the s.h.i.+p-money tax; he was a member of the Short Parliament, and played a prominent part in the more eventful transactions of the Long Parliament; an attempt on Charles's part to seize Hampden and four other members precipitated the Civil War; he took an active part in organising the Parliamentary forces, and proved himself a brave and skilful general in the field; he fell mortally wounded while opposing Prince Rupert in a skirmish at Chalgrove Field; historians unite in extolling his n.o.bility of character, statesmans.h.i.+p, and single-minded patriotism (1594-1643).
HAMPDEN, RENN d.i.c.kSON, theologian and bishop, born in Barbadoes; became a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, and in 1832 delivered his celebrated Bampton lectures on the ”Scholastic Philosophy considered in its Relation to Christian Theology,” which drew upon him the charge of heresy and produced an embittered controversy in the Church of England; he was successively Princ.i.p.al, professor of Moral Philosophy, and of Divinity at St. Mary's Hall, and became bishop of Hereford in 1847 (1793-1868).
HAMPOLE, RICHARD ROLLE, ”the Hermit of Hampole,” born at Thornton, Yorks.h.i.+re; studied at Oxford, and at the age of 19 turned hermit; was the author of ”The p.r.i.c.ke of Conscience,” a lengthy poem of a religious character (1290-1349).
HAMPs.h.i.+RE, HANTS (690), a maritime county of S. England, fronting the English Channel between Dorset on the W. and Suss.e.x on the E.; in the NE. are the ”rolling Downs,” affording excellent sheep pasturage, while the SW. is largely occupied by the New Forest; the Test, Itchen, and Avon are princ.i.p.al rivers flowing to the S.; besides the usual cereals, hops are raised, while Hamps.h.i.+re bacon and honey are celebrated; Southampton, Portsmouth, and Gosport are the chief trading and manufacturing towns.
HAMPSTEAD (68), a Parliamentary borough of Middles.e.x, has a hilly and bright situation, 4 m. NW. of London; is a popular place of resort with Londoners, and contains many fine suburban residences; beyond the village is the celebrated Heath; many literary a.s.sociations are connected with the place; the famous Kit-Cat Club of Steele and Addison's time is now a private house on the Heath; here lived Keats, Leigh Hunt, Coleridge, Hazlitt, &c.
HAMPTON (4), a village of Middles.e.x, on the Thames, 15 m. SW. of London; in the vicinity is HAMPTON COURT PALACE, a royal residence down to George II.'s time, and which was built originally by Wolsey, who presented it to Henry VIII.; in William III.'s time considerable alterations were made under the guidance of Wren; there is a fine picture-gallery and gardens; it is now occupied by persons of good family in reduced circ.u.mstances; the HAMPTON COURT CONFERENCE to settle ecclesiastical differences took place here in 1604 under the presidency of James I., and the decisions at which proved unsatisfactory to the Puritan members of it; it was here at the suggestion of Dr. Reynolds the authorised version of the Bible was undertaken.
HANAU (25), a Prussian town in Hesse-Na.s.sau, at the junction of the Kinzig and the Main, 11 m. NE. of Frankfurt; is celebrated for its jewellery and gold and silver work, and is otherwise a busy manufacturing town; it is the birthplace of the brothers Grimm.
HANc.o.c.k, WINFIELD SCOTT, a noted American general, born near Philadelphia; he had already graduated and served with distinction in the Mexican War, when, on the outbreak of the Civil War, he received a commission as brigadier-general of volunteers; he led a heroic charge at Fredericksburg, and in 1864 his gallant conduct in many a hard-fought battle was rewarded by promotion to a major-generals.h.i.+p in the regular army; subsequently he held important commands in the departments of Missouri, Dakota, &c., and in 1880 unsuccessfully opposed Garfield for the Presidency (1824-1886).
HaNDEL, musical composer, born at Halle; distinguished for his musical ability from his earliest years; was sent to Berlin to study when he was 14; began his musical career as a performer at Hamburg in 1703; produced his first opera in 1704; spent six years in Italy, devoting himself to his profession the while; came, on invitation, to England in 1710, where, being well received, he resolved to remain, and where, year after year--as many as nearly fifty of them--he added to his fame by his diligence as a composer; he produced a number of operas and oratorios; among the latter may be noted his ”Saul,” his ”Samson,” and ”Judas Maccabaeus,” and pre-eminently the ”Messiah,” his masterpiece, and which fascinates with a charm that appeals to and is appreciated by initiated and uninitiated alike (1684-1759).
HANG-CHOW (800), a Chinese town, a treaty-port since the recent war with j.a.pan; is at the mouth of the Tsien-tang at the entrance of the Imperial Ca.n.a.l, 110 m. SW. of Shanghai; it is an important literary, religious, and commercial centre; has flouris.h.i.+ng silk factories, and is noted for its gold and silver ware.
HANGING GARDENS, THE, OF BABYLON, one of the seven wonders of the world, had an area of four acres, formed a square, were a series of terraces supported by pillars sloping upwards like a pyramid and seeming to hang in air; they are ascribed to Semiramis.
HANIF, name given to a Mohammedan or an Arab of rigidly monotheistic belief.
HANKOW (750), a Chinese river-port, at the confluence of the Han and Yangtsze Rivers; it is properly an extension of the large towns Wu-chang and Han-yang; there is a considerable amount of s.h.i.+pping; tea is the princ.i.p.al article of export, and a large trade is carried on with the inland provinces.
HANLEY (85), a busy manufacturing town in the ”Potteries,” 18 m. N.
of Stafford; coal and iron are wrought in the neighbourhood.
HANMER, SIR THOMAS, Speaker of the House of Commons; elected in 1713, discharged the duties of the office with conspicuous impartiality; published an edition of Shakespeare (1677-1746).
HANNAY, JAMES, a novelist and critic, born in Dumfries; spent his boyhood in the navy, on quitting which he settled in London and took to letters; was for a time editor of the _Edinburgh Courant_, a Tory paper, and subsequently consul at Barcelona, where he died; he knew English literature and wrote English well (1827-1873).
HANNIBAL, the great Carthaginian general, son of HAMILCAR (q. v.); learned the art of war under his father in Spain; subjugated all Spain south of the Ebro by the capture of the Roman allied city of Saguntum, which led to the outbreak of the Second Punic War and his leading his army through hostile territory over the Pyrenees and the Alps into Italy; defeated the Romans in succession at the Ticinus, the Trebia, and Lake Trasimenus, to the extirpation of the army sent against him; pa.s.sed the Apennines and descended into Apulia, where, after being hara.s.sed by the tantalising policy of Fabius Maximus, he met the Romans at Cannae in 216 B.C. and inflicted on them a crus.h.i.+ng defeat, retiring after this into winter quarters at Capua, where his soldiers became demoralised; he next season began to experience a succession of reverses, which ended in the evacuation of Italy and the transfer of the seat of war to Africa, where Hannibal was met by Scipio on the field of Zama in 201 B.C. and defeated; he afterwards joined Antiochus, king of Syria, who was at war with Rome, to his defeat there also, upon which he fled to Prusias, king of Bithynia, where, when his surrender was demanded, he ended his life by poisoning himself (247-183 B.C.).