Part 242 (2/2)
HEZEKIAH, a king of Judah; reigned from 725 to 697 B.C.; distinguished for his zeal in the celebration of the wors.h.i.+p of Jehovah and for his weakness in making a parade of his wealth; reigned in the golden age of Hebrew prophecy, Isaiah and Micah being his contemporaries.
HIAWATHA, the subject of a poem of Longfellow's; a personage reverenced by the North American Indians as the founder among them of the arts of peace, as well as the clearer of the forests.
HIBBERT LECTURES, unsectarian lectures inst.i.tuted by the trustees of Robert Hibbert, a West India merchant, devoted to the discussion of unsolved problems in theology.
HIBERNIA, the cla.s.sical name for Ireland, which to the ancient world was in the main a _terra incognita_.
HICKS, ELIAS, an American preacher of the Quaker connection, who adopted Unitarian views and caused a split in the body (1748-1830).
HICKS-BEACH, SIR MICHAEL EDWARD, Conservative politician, born in London; educated at Eton and Oxford, and in 1864 entered Parliament; took office as Under-Secretary for Home Affairs under Disraeli, and in 1874 became Secretary for Ireland; four years later he was Lord Carnarvon's successor at the Colonial Office, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in 1885, Secretary for Ireland in 1886, President of the Board of Trade in 1888, and in 1895, on the formation of a Coalition Ministry, again became Chancellor of the Exchequer; _b_. 1837.
HIERAPOLIS, 1, an ancient city of Syria Cyrrhestica, now in ruins, situated between Antioch and Mesopotamia, 14 m. W. of the Euphrates; had considerable commercial importance, and was famous for its great temple of Astarte. 2, A city of ancient Phrygia, 5 m. N. of Laodicea; the birthplace of Epictetus, and where Paul founded a church; was celebrated for its hot springs.
HIERO I., tyrant of Syracuse; broke the naval power of Etruria by victory over the Etruscan fleet near Cannae, 474 B.C.; was an enlightened patron of men of letters, many of whom he entertained at his court, aeschylus, Pindar, and Simonides among the number; _d_. 467 B.C.
HIERO II., king of Syracuse, for near half a century the steadfast friend and ally of the Romans; unlike his namesake he was averse to display, and was accustomed to appear in public in the garb of a common citizen; he ruled his country well; _d_. 216 B.C. at the age of 92.
HIERONYMUS. See JEROME.
HIGDEN, RALPH, author of the ”Polychronicon”; was a Benedictine monk, who spent his long life in St. Werburgh's monastery, Chester; the work with which his name is a.s.sociated is an account of the world down to the end of Edward III.'s reign, but the chronicle of the last 50 years is supposed to have been written by other hands; Caxton published a translation made by John Trevisa; _d_. about 1307.
HIGGINS, MATTHEW JAMES, essayist, wrote under the _nom de plume_ of ”Jacob Omnium,” born at Benown, Ireland; was educated at Eton and Oxford, and spent many years in European travel; his numerous papers, which appeared in the leading magazines and newspapers, were princ.i.p.ally directed against social abuses, and are characterised by a humour and pungent irony not unlike his friend Thackeray's (1810-1868).
HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH, an American author and abolitionist, born at Cambridge, Ma.s.sachusetts; graduated at Harvard, and took orders, but resigned in 1858 to devote himself to politics in the anti-slavery interest; during the Civil War he commanded the first regiment of freed slaves; subsequently he resumed literary work, and in 1880 became a member of the Ma.s.sachusetts Legislature; he wrote a ”History of the United States,” ”Army Life in a Black Regiment,” &c.; _b_. 1823.
HIGH CHURCH, that section of the Episcopal Church in England who attach supreme importance to the administration of word and sacrament by clergy duly ordained, and regarded by them as such, the sole divinely appointed media of divine grace.
HIGH PLACES, elevated spots on which altars were erected for wors.h.i.+p in the rude belief that, as they were nearer heaven than the plains and valleys, they were more favourable places for prayer. The practice of wors.h.i.+p on these spots, though from the first forbidden, became frequent among the Jews, and was with difficulty abolished, though denounced time after time by the prophets as an affront to Jehovah.
HIGH SEAS, as understood in international law means the entire sea or ocean area which lies beyond a three-mile belt of coast water. This coastal strip is called the _mare clausum_, and the rights of fis.h.i.+ng, &c., in it are reserved to the country upon which it borders.
<script>