Part 244 (1/2)
HITCHIN (9), a very old and still prosperous town of Hertfords.h.i.+re, on the Hiz, 14 m. NW. of Hertford; does a flouris.h.i.+ng trade in corn, malt, and flour; brewing and straw-plaiting are important industries, and it has long been noted for its lavender and lavender water.
HITOPADESA (i. e. good instruction), a celebrated Sanskrit collection of fables, which in the substance of them have pa.s.sed into all the civilised literatures of the world.
HITt.i.tES, one of the original tribes of Canaan, and one of the most powerful, whose dominion extended at one time as far as the border of Egypt on the one hand, and Mesopotamia on the other, and northward beyond the Taurus Mountains, traces of which have been discovered over all Asia Minor, while they were strong enough to engage in war with the Egyptians; they had two capitals, Kadesh on the Orontes, and Carchemish on the Euphrates.
HITZIG, FERDINAND, a German Orientalist and biblical scholar, born in Baden; devoted himself to Old Testament studies; was professor of Theology first at Zurich and then at Heidelberg; his princ.i.p.al works bore on Old Testament exegesis (1807-1875).
HOADLY, BENJAMIN, an English prelate, born in Kent; was a keen controversialist; argued stoutly in defence of civil and religious liberty, and was an opponent of the pretensions of the High Church party (1676-1761).
HOANG-HO (”Yellow River”), one of the chief rivers of China, rises in the plain of Odontala, south of the Kuen-lun Mountains, and sweeps with impetuous current in a more or less north-easterly direction, discharging into the Gulf of Pechili after a course of 3000 m.; it is for the most part quite unnavigable, and its frequent floods are a constant menace to the districts through which it flows.
HOBART (25), capital of Tasmania, is situated on the estuary of the Derwent, at the base of Mount Wellington; is handsomely laid out in the form of a square; is the seat of government, and has many fine public buildings; has a splendid natural harbour; the manufacture of flour, jam, leather, besides brewing, s.h.i.+pbuilding, and iron-founding, are its chief industries; it has extensive suburbs, and is a favourite health resort.
HOBART PASHA, Turkish admiral; was a son of the Duke of Buckingham; distinguished himself in the British navy before he entered the Turkish service; had during the Russo-Turkish war in 1877 to withdraw from the service of the Queen, and shortly afterwards died (1822-1886).
HOB'BEMA, MEINDERT, a famous Dutch landscape painter, born at Amsterdam; lived chiefly in his native town, and died in poverty; his fine, subdued pictures of woodland life and scenery are ranked amongst the masterpieces of Dutch landscape painting, and are the valued possessions of the National Galleries in London, Berlin, Vienna, &c.
(1638-1709).
HOBBES, THOMAS, an English philosopher, psychologist, and moralist, born at Malmesbury; was educated at Oxford; connected all his days with the Cavendish family, with members of which he travelled on the Continent, and was on friendly terms with Charles II., Bacon, Descartes, &c.; translated Thucydides, wrote a number of works, ”De Cive” among others, and the ”Leviathan,” all more or less leading up to the doctrine that the absolute sovereign power in all matters of right and wrong is vested in the State as the achieved fact of the emanc.i.p.ation of the race from savagery (1588-1679).
HOBHOUSE, JOHN CAM, English politician, a friend of Byron; represented Nottingham and Norwich in Parliament in the Liberal interest, and held several ministerial appointments (1780-1869).
HO'BOKEN (59), a city of New Jersey, on the Hudson River, adjoining Jersey City and opposite New York; is an important railway terminus and s.h.i.+pping-port; does a large trade in coal, lead-pencils, iron-casting, &c.
HOBSON, a Cambridge stabler who let out horses on hire, the choice always limited to the one next the door, the one that had been longest in, hence Hobson's Choice.
HOCCLEVE or OCCLEVE, THOMAS, an early English poet; had an appointment in the Exchequer Office in Henry V.'s time; his chief work is the ”Government of Princes,” but his poems have more linguistic than poetic interest; has left us an interesting portrait of his contemporary, Chaucer (1368-1448).
HOCHE, LA, French general, born near Versailles; rose from the ranks to the command of the army of the Moselle; drove the Austrians out of Alsace, and suppressed the rising in and pacified La Vendee; while yet a sergeant bore a hand conspicuously at the overturn of the Bastille (17681797).
HOCHKIRCH, a village in Saxony where Frederick the Great was defeated by the Austrian Marshal Daun in 1758.
HODGE. CHARLES, an American theologian, born at Philadelphia; graduated at Princeton, and in 1822 became professor in the Theological Seminary in Princeton, a post he held till the close of his life; besides founding and editing the Princeton Review, was the author of various commentaries, but is best known by his ”Systematic Theology,” which is still a standard text-book (1797-1878).