[1] According to the legend St Hippolytus was a Roman soldier who was
converted by St Lawrence.
HIPPOLYTUS, THE CANONS OF. This book stands at the head of a series of
Church Orders, which contain instructions in regard to the choice and
ordination of Christian ministers, regulations as to widows and virgins,
conditions of reception of converts from heathenism, preparation for and
administration of baptism, rules for the celebration of the eucharist,
for fasting, daily prayers, charity suppers, memorial meals,
first-fruits, &c. We shall give (1) a description of the book as we have
it at present; (2) a brief statement of its relation to allied
documents; (3) some remarks on the evidence for its date and authorship.
1. We possess the _Canons of Hippolytus_ only in an Arabic version,
itself made from a Coptic version of the original Greek. Attention was
called to the book by Wansleben and Ludolf towards the end of the 17th
century, but it was only in 1870 that it was edited by Haneberg, who
added a Latin translation, and so made it generally accessible. In 1891
H. Achelis reproduced this translation in a revised form, embodying it
in a synopsis of allied documents. He suspected much interpolation and
derangement of order, and consequently rearranged its contents with a
free hand. In 1900 a German translation was made by H. Riedel, based on
fresh MSS. These showed that the book, as hitherto edited, had been
thrown into disorder by the displacement of two pages near the end; they
also removed other difficulties upon which the theory of interpolation
had been based. Further discoveries, to be spoken of presently, have
added to our materials for the study of the book.
The book is attributed to "Hippolytus, the chief of the bishops of
Rome," and is divided into thirty-eight canons, to which short
headings are prefixed. This division is certainly not original, but it
is convenient for purposes of reference. Canon 1 is prefatory; it
contains a brief confession of faith in the Trinity, and especially in
the Word, the Son of God; and it speaks of the expulsion of heretics
from the Church. Canons 2-5 give regulations for the selection and
ordination of bishops, presbyters and deacons. The bishop is chosen by
the whole congregation: "one of the bishops and presbyters" is to lay
hands upon him and say a prayer which follows (3): he is at once to
proceed with "the offering," taking up the eucharistic service at the
point where the _sursum corda_ comes in. A presbyter (4) is to be
ordained with the same prayer as a bishop, "with the exception of the
word bishop"; but he is given no power of ordination (this appears to
be inconsistent with c. 2). The duties of a deacon are described, and
the prayer of his ordination follows (5). Canons 6-9 deal with various
classes in the Church. One who has suffered punishment for the faith
(6) is to be counted a presbyter without ordination: "his confession
is his ordination." Readers and sub-deacons (7) are given the Gospel,
but are not ordained by laying-on of hands. A claim to ordination on
the ground of gifts of healing (8) is to be admitted, if the facts are
clear and the healing is from God. Widows are not ordained (9):
"ordination is for men only." Canons 10-15 describe conditions for the
admission of converts. Certain occupations are incompatible with
Christian life: only under compulsion may a Christian be a soldier.
Canons 16-18 deal chiefly with regulations concerning women. Canon 19
is a long one dealing with catechumens, preparation for baptism,
administration of that sacrament, and of the eucharist for the newly
baptized. The candidate is twice anointed: first, with the oil of
exorcism, after he has said, with his face westward, "I renounce thee,
O devil, and all thy following"; and, again, immediately after the
baptism. As he stands in the water, he declares his faith in response
to an interrogatory creed; and after each of the three clauses he is
immersed. After the second anointing the bishop gives thanks "for that
Thou hast made them worthy that they should be born again, and hast
poured out Thy Holy Ghost upon them, so that they may belong, each one
of them, to the body of the Church": he signs them with the cross on
their foreheads, and kisses them. The eucharist then proceeds: "the
bishop gives them of the body of Christ and says, This is the body of
Christ, and they answer Amen"; and similarly for the cup. Milk and
honey are then given to them as being "born a second time as little
children." A warning is added against eating anything before
communicating. Canons 20-22 deal with fast-days, daily services in
church, and the fast of the passover-week. Canon 23 seems as if it
closed the series, speaking, as it does, of "our brethren the bishops"
who in their cities have made regulations "according to the commands
of our fathers the apostles": "let none of our successors alter them;
because it saith that the teaching is greater than the sea, and hath
no end." We pass on, however, to regulations about the sick (24) who
are to be visited by the bishop, "because it is a great thing for the
sick that the high-priest should visit them (for the shadow of Peter
healed the sick)." Canons 25-27 deal again with prayers and
church-services. The "seven hours" are specified, with reasons for
their observance (25): attendance at sermons is urged (26), "for the
Lord is in the place where his lordship is proclaimed" (comp.
_Didache_ 4, part of the _Two Ways_). When there are no prayers in
church, reading at home is enjoined (27): "let the sun each morning
see the book upon thy knees" (comp. Ath. _Ad virg._, S 12, "Let the
sun when he ariseth see the book in thy hands"). Prayer must be
preceded by the washing of the hands. "No believer must take food
before communicating, especially on fast-days": only believers may
communicate (28). The sacred elements must be guarded, "lest anything
fall into the cup, and it be a sin unto death for the presbyters." No
crumb must be dropped, "lest an evil spirit get possession of it."
Canons 30-35 contain various rules, and specially deal with suppers
for the poor (i.e. _agapae_) and memorial feasts. Then we have a
prayer for the offering of first-fruits (36); a direction that
ministers shall wear fair garments at "the mysteries" (37); and a
command to watch during the night of the resurrection (38). The last
canon hereupon passes into a general exhortation to right living,
which forms a sixth part of the whole book. In Riedel's translation we
read this for the first time as a connected whole. It falls into two
parts, and describes, first, the true life of ordinary Christians,
warning them against an empty profession, and laying down many
precepts of morality; and then it addresses itself to the "ascete" who
"wishes to belong to the rank of the angels," and who lives a life of
solitude and poverty. He is encouraged by an exposition, on somewhat
strange lines, of the temptations of our Lord, and is specially warned
against spiritual pride and contempt of other men. The book closes
with an appeal for love and mutual service, based on the parables in
St Matthew xxv.
2. It is impossible to estimate the position of the Canons of Hippolytus
without some reference to allied documents (see APOSTOLICAL
CONSTITUTIONS). (a) The most important of these is what is now commonly
called the _Egyptian Church Order_. This is preserved to us in Coptic
and Aethiopic versions, of which Achelis, in his synopsis, gives German
translations. The subject-matter and arrangement of these canons
correspond generally to those of Hippolytus; but many of the details are
modified to bring them into accord with a later practice. A new light
was thrown on the criticism of this work by Hauler's discovery (1900) of
a Latin version (of which, unfortunately, about half is missing) in the
Verona palimpsest, from which he has also given us large Latin fragments
of the _Didascalia_ (which underlies books i.-vi. of the Apostolic
Constitutions, and which hitherto we have only known from the Syriac).
The Latin of the Egyptian Church Order is somewhat more primitive than
the Coptic, and approaches more nearly, at some points, to the _Canons
of Hippolytus_. It has a preface which refers to a treatise _Concerning
Spiritual Gifts_, as having immediately preceded it; but neither this
nor the Coptic-Aethiopic form has either the introduction or concluding
exhortation which is found in the _Canons of Hippolytus_. (b) _The
Testament of the Lord_ is a document in Syriac, of which the opening
part had been published by Lagarde, and of which Rahmani (1899) has
given us the whole. It professes to contain instructions given by our
Lord to the apostles after the resurrection. After an introduction
containing apocalyptical matter, it passes on to give elaborate
directions for the ordering of the Church, embodying, in a much-expanded
form, the Egyptian Church Order, and showing a knowledge of the preface
to that document which appears in the Latin version. It cannot be placed
with probability earlier than the latter part of the 4th century. (c)
The _Apostolic Constitutions_ is a composite document, which probably
belongs to the end of the 4th century. Its first six books are an
expanded edition of a _Didascalia_ which we have already mentioned: its
seventh book similarly expands and modifies the _Didache_ its eighth
book begins by treating of "spiritual gifts," and then in c. 3 passes on
to expand in like manner the Egyptian Church Order. The hand which has
wrought up all these documents has been shown to be that of the
interpolator of the Ignatian Epistles in the longer Greek recension. (d)
The _Canons of Basil_ is the title of an Arabic work, of which a German
translation has been given us by Riedel, who thinks that they have come
through Coptic from an original Greek book. They embody, in a modified
form, considerable portions of the Canons of Hippolytus.
3. We now approach the difficult questions of date and authorship. Much
of the material has been quite recently brought to light, and criticism
has not had time to investigate and pronounce upon it. Some provisional
remarks, therefore, are all that can prudently be made. It seems plain
that we have two lines of tradition: (1) The Canons of Hippolytus,
followed by the Canons of Basil; (2) the Egyptian Church Order, itself
represented (a) by the Latin version, the Testament of the Lord, and the
Apostolic Constitutions, which are linked together by the same preface
(or portions of it); (b) by the Coptic and Aethiopic versions. Now, the
preface of the Latin version points to a time when the canons were
embodied in a _corpus_ of similar materials, or, at the least, were
preceded by a work on "Spiritual Gifts." The Canons of Hippolytus have a
wholly different preface, and also a long exhortation at the close. The
question which criticism must endeavour to answer is, whether the Canons
of Hippolytus are the original from which the Egyptian Church Order is
derived, or whether an earlier body of canons lies behind them both. At
present it is probably wise to assume that the latter is the true
explanation. For the Canons of Hippolytus appear to contain
contradictory regulations (e.g. cc. 2 and 4 of the presbyters), and also
suggest that they have received a considerable supplement (after c. 23).
There is, however, no doubt that they present us with a more primitive
stage of Church life than we find in the Egyptian Church Order. The
mention of sub-deacons (which, after Riedel's fresh manuscript evidence,
cannot now be dismissed as due to interpolation) makes it difficult to
assign a date much earlier than the middle of the 3rd century.
The Puritan severity of the canons well accords with the temper of the
writer to whom the Arabic title attributes them; and it is to be noted
that the exhortation at the close contains a quotation from 2 Peter
actually attributed to the apostle, and Hippolytus is perhaps the
earliest author who can with certainty be said to have used this
epistle. But the general style of Hippolytus, which is simple,
straight-forward and strong, is in marked contrast with that of the
closing passage of the canons; moreover, his mind, as presented to us in
his extant writings, appears to be a much larger one than that of the
writer of these canons; it is as difficult to think of Hippolytus as it
would be to think of Origen in such a connexion. How, then, are we to
account for the attribution? There is evidence to show that Hippolytus
was highly reverenced throughout the East: his writings, which were in
Greek, were known, but his history was entirely unknown. He was supposed
to be "a pupil ([Greek: gnorimos]) of apostles" (Palladius, 4th
century), and the Arabic title calls him "chief of the bishops of Rome,"
i.e. archbishop of Rome. It is hard to trust this attribution more than
the attribution of a Coptic discourse on the _Dormitio Mariae_ to
"Evodius, archbishop of the great city Rome, who was the second after
Peter the apostle" (_Texts and Studies_, iv. 2-44)--Evodius being by
tradition first bishop of Antioch. A whole group of books on Church
Order bears the name of Clement of Rome; and the attribution of our
canons to Hippolytus may be only an example of the same tendency. The
fact that Hippolytus wrote a treatise _Concerning Spiritual Gifts_, and
that some such treatise is not only referred to in the Latin preface to
the Egyptian Church Order, but is actually found at the beginning of
book viii. of the Apostolic Constitutions, introduces an interesting
complication; but we cannot here pursue the matter further. Dom Morin's
ingenious attribution of the canons to Dionysius of Alexandria (on the
ground of Eusebius, _H.E._ vi. 46., 5) cannot be accepted in view of the
broader church policy which that writer represents. If the Hippolytean
authorship be given up, it is probable that Egypt will make the
strongest claim to be the locality in which the canons were compiled in
their present form.
The authorities of chief practical importance are H. Achelis, _Texte
u. Unters._ vi. 4 (1891); Rahmani, _Testamentum Domini_ (1899);
Hauler, _Didascaliae Apostolorum_ (1900); Riedel,
_Kirchenrechtsquellen des Patriarchats Alexandrien_ (1900).
(J. A. R.)
HIPPONAX, of Ephesus, Greek iambic poet. Expelled from Ephesus in 540
B.C. by the tyrant Athenagoras, he took refuge in Clazomenae, where he
spent the rest of his life in poverty. His deformed figure and malicious
disposition exposed him to the caricature of the Chian sculptors Bupalus
and Athenis, upon whom he revenged himself by issuing against them a
series of satires. They are said to have hanged themselves like Lycambes
and his daughters when assailed by Archilochus, the model and
predecessor of Hipponax. His coarseness of thought and feeling, his rude
vocabulary, his want of grace and taste, and his numerous allusions to
matters of merely local interest prevented his becoming a favourite in
Attica. He was considered the inventor of parody and of a peculiar
metre, the _scazon_ or _choliambus_, which substitutes a spondee for the
final iambus of an iambic senarius, and is an appropriate form for the
burlesque character of his poems.
Fragments in Bergk, _Poetae lyrici Graeci_; see also B. J. Peltzer,
_De parodica Graecorum poesi_ (1855), containing an account of
Hipponax and the fragments.
HIPPOPOTAMUS ("river-horse," Gr. [Greek: hippos], horse and [Greek:
potamos], river), the name of the largest representative of the
non-ruminating artiodactyle ungulate mammals, and its living and extinct
relatives. The common hippopotamus (_Hippopotamus amphibius_), which
formerly inhabited all the great rivers of Africa but whose range has
now been much restricted, is most likely the _behemoth_ of Scripture,
and may very probably in Biblical times have been found in the Jordan
valley, since at a still earlier (Pleistocene) epoch it ranged over a
large part of Europe. It typifies not only a genus, but likewise a
family, _Hippopotamidae_, distinguished from its relatives the pigs and
peccaries, or _Suidae_, by the following assemblage of characters:
Muzzle very broad and rounded. Feet short and broad, with four subequal
toes, bearing short rounded hoofs, and all reaching the ground in
walking. Incisors not rooted but continuously growing; those of the
upper jaw curved and directed downwards; those of the lower straight and
procumbent. Canines very large, curved, continuously growing; upper ones
directed downwards. Premolars 4/4; molars 3/3. Stomach complex. No
caecum.
[Illustration: The Hippopotamus (_Hippopotamus amphibius_).]
In form the hippopotamus is a huge, unwieldy creature, measuring in the
largest specimens fully 14 ft. from the extremity of the upper lip to
the tip of the tail, while it ordinarily attains a length of 12 ft.,
with a height of 5 ft. at the shoulders, and a girth round the thickest
part of the body almost equal to its length. The small ears are
exceedingly flexible, and kept in constant motion when the animal is
seeking to catch a distant sound; the eyes are placed high up on the
head, but little below the level of the ears; while the gape is wide,
and the upper lip thick and bulging so as to cover over even its large
tusks when the mouth is closed. The molars, which show trefoil-shaped
grinding-surfaces are well adapted for masticating vegetable substances,
while the formidable array of long spear-like incisors and curved
chisel-edged canines or tusks root up rank grass like an agricultural
implement. The legs are short, so that the body is but little elevated
above the ground; and the feet, which are small in proportion to the
size of the animal, terminate in four short toes each bearing a small
hoof. With the exception of a few tufts of hair on the lips, on the
sides of the head and neck, and at the extremity of the short robust
tail, the skin of the hippopotamus, some portions of which are 2 in. in
thickness, is destitute of covering. Hippopotamuses are gregarious
animals, living in herds of from 20 to 40 individuals on the banks and
in the beds of rivers, in the neighbourhood of which they most readily
find appropriate food. This consists chiefly of grass and of aquatic
plants, of which these animals consume enormous quantities, the stomach
being capable of containing from 5 to 6 bushels. They feed principally
by night, remaining in the water during the day, although in districts
where they are little disturbed they are less exclusively aquatic. In
such remote quarters, they put their heads boldly out of the water to
blow, but when rendered suspicious they become exceedingly cautious in
this respect, only exposing their nostrils above the water, and even
this they prefer doing amid the shelter of water plants. In spite of
their enormous size and uncouth form, they are expert swimmers and
divers, and can remain easily under the water from five to eight
minutes. They walk on the bottoms of rivers, beneath at least 1 ft. of
water. At nightfall they come on land to feed; and when, as often
happens on the banks of the Nile, they reach cultivated ground, they do
immense damage to growing crops, destroying by their ponderous tread
even more than they devour. To scare away these unwelcome visitors the
natives in such districts are in the habit of kindling fires at night.
Although hippopotamuses do not willingly go far from the water on which
their existence depends, they occasionally travel long distances by
night in search of food, and in spite of their clumsy appearance are
able to climb steep banks and precipitous ravines with ease. Of a
wounded hippopotamus which Sir S. Baker saw leaving the water and
galloping inland, he writes: "I never could have imagined that so
unwieldy an animal could have exhibited such speed. No man could have
had a chance of escape." The hippopotamus does not confine itself to
rivers and lakes, but has been known to prefer the waters of the ocean
as its home during the day. Of a mild and inoffensive disposition, it
seeks to avoid collision with man; when wounded, however, or in defence
of its young, it exhibits great ferocity, and native canoes are capsized
and occasionally demolished by its infuriated attacks; the bellowing
grunt then becoming loud enough to be heard a mile away. As among
elephants, so also among hippopotamuses there are "rogues"--old bulls
which have become soured in solitude, and are at all times dangerous.
Assuming the offensive on every occasion, they attack all and sundry
without shadow of provocation; and the natives avoid their haunts, which
are usually well known.
The only other living species is the pygmy hippopotamus, _H.
(Choeropsis) liberiensis_, of West Africa, an animal not larger than a
clumsily made pig of full dimensions, and characterized by having
generally one (in place of two) pair of incisors. It is much less
aquatic than its giant relative, having, in fact, the habits of a pig.
A small extinct species (_H. lemerlei_) inhabited Madagascar at a
comparatively recent date; while other dwarf kinds were natives of Crete
(_H. minutus_) and Malta and Sicily (_H. pentlandi_) during the
Pleistocene. A large form of the ordinary species (_H. amphibius major_)
was distributed over Europe as far north as Yorkshire at the same epoch;
while an allied species (_H. palaeindicus_) inhabited Pleistocene India.
Contemporary with the latter was, however, a species (_H. namadicus_)
with three pairs of incisors; and "hexaprotodont" hippopotamuses are
also characteristic of the Pliocene of India and Burma (_H. sivalensis_
and _H. iravadicus_), and of Algeria, Egypt and southern Europe (_H.
hipponensis_).
For the ancestral genera of the hippopotamus line, see ARTIODACTYLA.
(R. L.*)
HIPPURIC ACID (Gr. [Greek: hippos], horse, [Greek: ouron], urine),
benzoyl glycocoll or benzoyl amidoacetic acid, C9H9NO3 or
C6H5CO.NH.CH2.CO2H, an organic acid found in the urine of horses and
other herbivorae. It is excreted when many aromatic compounds, such as
benzoic acid and toluene, are taken internally. J. v. Liebig in 1829
showed that it differed from benzoic acid, and in 1839 determined its
constitution, while in 1853 V. Dessaignes (_Ann._ 87, p. 325)
synthesized it by acting with benzoyl chloride on zinc glycocollide. It
is also formed by heating benzoic anhydride with glycocoll (Th. Curtius,
_Ber._, 1884, 17, p. 1662), and by heating benzamide with
monochloracetic acid. It crystallizes in rhombic prisms which are
readily soluble in hot water, melt at 187 deg. C. and decompose at about
240 deg. C. It is readily hydrolysed by hot caustic alkalis to benzoic
acid and glycocoll. Nitrous acid converts it into benzoyl glycollic
acid, C6H5CO.O.CH2.CO2H. Its ethyl ester reacts with hydrazine to form
hippuryl hydrazine, C6H5CO.NH.CH2.CO.NH.NH2, which was used by Curtius
for the preparation of azoimide (q.v.).
HIPURNIAS, a tribe of South American Indians, 2000 or 3000 in number,
living on the river Purus, western Brazil. Their houses are long, low
and narrow: the side walls and roof are one, poles being fixed in the
ground and then bent together so as to meet and form a pointed arch for
the cross-sections. They use small bark canoes. Their chief weapons are
poisoned arrows. They have a native god called Guintiniri.
HIRA, the capital of an Arabian kingdom, founded in the 2nd century
A.D., on the western edge of Irak, was situated at 32 deg. N., 44 deg.
20' E., about 4 m. S.E. of modern Nejef, by the Sa'ade canal, on the
shore of the Bahr Nejef or Assyrium Stagnum. Its kings governed the
western shore of the lower Euphrates and of the Persian Gulf, their
kingdom extending inland to the confines of the Nejd. This Lakhmid
kingdom was more or less dependent, during the four centuries of its
existence, on the Sassanian empire, to which it formed a sort of buffer
state towards Arabia. After the battle of Kadesiya and the founding of
Kufa by the Arabs, Hira lost its importance and fell into decay. The
ruin mounds covering the ancient site, while extensive, are
insignificant in appearance and give no indications of the existence of
important buildings.
HIRADO, an island belonging to Japan, 19(1/2) m. long and 6 m. wide,
lying off the west coast of the province of Hizen, Kiushiu, in 33 deg.
15' N. and 129 deg. 25' E. It is celebrated as the site of the original
Dutch factory--often erroneously written Firando--and as the place where
one of the finest blue-and-white porcelains of Japan (_Hiradoyaki_) was
produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. The kilns are still active.
HIRE-PURCHASE AGREEMENT, in the law of contract, a form of bailment of
goods, on credit, which has extended very considerably of late years.
Originally applied to the sale of the more expensive kinds of goods,
such as pianos and articles of furniture, the hire-purchase agreement
has now been extended to almost every description. The agreement is
usually in writing, with a stipulation that the payments to purchase
shall be by weekly, monthly or other instalments. The agreement is
virtually one to purchase, but in order that the vendor may be able to
recover the goods at any time on non-payment of an instalment, it is
treated as an agreement to let and hire, with a provision that when the
last instalment has been paid the goods shall become the property of the
hirer. A clause provides that in case of default of any instalment, or
breach of any part of the agreement, all previous payments shall be
forfeited to the lender, who can forcibly recover the goods. Such
agreements, therefore, do not pass the property in the goods, which
remains in the lender until all the instalments have been paid. But the
terms of the agreement may sometimes purposely obscure the nature of the
transaction between the parties, where, for example, the hire-purchase
is merely to create a security for money. In such a case a judge will
look to the true nature of the transaction. If it is not a real letting
and hiring, the agreement will require registration under the Bills of
Sale Acts. If the agreement contains words to the effect that a person
has "bought or agreed to buy" goods, the transaction comes under the
Factors Act 1889, and the person in possession of the goods may dispose
of them and give a good title. The doctrine of reputed ownership, by
which a bankrupt is deemed the reputed owner of goods in his apparent
possession, has been somewhat modified by trade customs, in accordance
with which property is frequently let out on the hire-purchase system
(see BANKRUPTCY).
HIRING (from O. Eng. _hyrian_, a word common to many Teutonic languages
cf. Ger. _heuern_, Dutch _huren_, &c.), in law, a contract by which one
man grants the use of a thing to another in return for a certain price.
It corresponds to the _locatio-conductio_ of Roman law. That contract
was either a letting of a thing (_locatio-conductio rei_) or of labour
(_locatio operarum_). The distinguishing feature of the contract was
the price. Thus the contracts of _mutuum_, _commodatum_, _depositum_
and _mandatum_, which are all gratuitous contracts, become, if a price
is fixed, cases of _locatio-conductio_. In modern English law the term
can scarcely be said to be used in a strictly technical sense. The
contracts which the Roman law grouped together under the head of
_locatio-conductio_--such as those of landlord and tenant, master and
servant, &c.--are not in English law treated as cases of hiring but as
independent varieties of contract. Neither in law books nor in ordinary
discourse could a tenant farmer be said to hire his land. Hiring would
generally be applied to contracts in which the services of a man or the
use of a thing are engaged for a short time.
_Hiring Fairs_, or _Statute Fairs_, still held in Wales and some parts
of England, were formerly an annual fixture in every important country
town. These fairs served to bring together masters and servants. The men
and maids seeking work stood in rows, the males together and the females
together, while masters and mistresses walked down the lines and
selected those who suited them. Originally these hiring-fairs were
always held on Martinmas Day (11th of November). Now they are held on
different dates in different towns, usually in October or November. In
Cumberland the men seeking work stood with straws in their mouths. In
Lincolnshire the bargain between employer and employed was closed by the
giving of the "fasten-penny," the earnest money, usually a shilling,
which "fastened" the contract for a twelvemonth. Some few days after the
Statute Fair it was customary to hold a second called a Mop Fair or
Runaway Mop. "Mop" (from Lat. _mappa_, napkin, or small cloth) meant in
Old English a tuft or tassel, and the fair was so called, it is
suggested, in allusion to tufts or badges worn by those seeking
employment. Thus the carter wore whipcord on his hat, the cowherd a tuft
of cow's hair, and so on. Another possible explanation would be to take
the word "mop" in its old provincial slang sense of "a fool," mop fair
being the fools' fair, a sort of last chance offered to those who were
too dull or slovenly-looking to be hired at the statute fair. Perhaps
"runaway" suggests the idea of those absent through drunkenness, or
those who simply feared to face the ordeal of the larger hiring and so
ran away.
HIROSAKI, a town of Japan in the province of Michmoku or Rikuchiu, north
Nippon, 22 m. S.W. of Aomori by rail. Pop. about 37,000. The fine
isolated cone of Iwakisan, a mountain of pilgrimage, rises to the west.
Hirosaki is a very old place, formerly residence of a great daimio (or
daimyo) and capital of a vast principality, and still the seat of a high
court with jurisdiction over the surrounding districts of Aomori and
Akita. Like most places in north Nippon, it is built with continuous
verandas extending from house to house, and affording a promenade
completely sheltered from the snows of winter. Apples of fine flavour
grow in the district, which also enjoys some reputation for its peculiar
green lacquer-ware.
HIROSHIGE (1797-1858), Japanese artist, was one of the principal members
of that branch of the _Ukiyo-ye_ or Popular School of Painting in Japan,
a school which chiefly made colour-prints. His family name was Ando
Tokitaro; that under which he is known having been, in accordance with
Japanese practice, adopted by him in recognition of the fact that he was
a pupil of Toyohiro. The earliest reference to him is in the account
given by an inhabitant of the Lu-chu islands of a visit to Japan; where
a sketch of a procession drawn with great skill by Hiroshige at the age
of ten years only is mentioned as one of the remarkable sights seen. At
the age of fifteen he applied unsuccessfully to be admitted to the
studio of the elder Toyokuni; but was eventually received by Toyohiro.
On the death of the latter in 1828, he began to practise on his own
account, but finding small encouragement at Yedo (Tokyo) he removed to
Kioto, where he published a set of landscapes. He soon returned to Yedo,
where his work soon became popular, and was imitated by other artists.
He died in that city on the 6th day of the 9th month of the year, Ansei
5th, at the age of sixty-two, and was buried at Asakusa. One of his
pupils, Hironobu, received from him the name of Hiroshige II. and
another, Ando Tokubei, that of Hiroshige III. All three were closely
associated with the work signed with the name of the master. Hiroshige
II. some time after the year 1863 fell into disgrace and was compelled
to leave Yedo for Nagasaki, where he died; Hiroshige III. then called
himself Hiroshige II. He died in 1896. The earlier prints by these
artists, whose work can hardly be separated, are of extraordinary merit.
They applied the process of colour block printing to the purposes of
depicting landscape, with a breadth, skill and suitability of convention
that has been equalled only by Hokusai in Japan, and by no European.
Most of their subjects were derived from the neighbourhood of Yedo, or
were scenes on the old high road--the Tokaido--that ran from that city
to Kioto. The two elder of the name were competent painters, and
pictures and drawings by them are occasionally to be met with.
See E. F. Strange, "Japanese Colour-prints" (_Victoria and Albert
Museum Handbook_, 1904). (E. F. S.)
HIROSHIMA, a city and seaport of Japan, capital of the government of its
name in central Nippon. Pop. (1903) 113,545. It is very beautifully
situated on a small plain surrounded by hills, the bay being studded
with islands. In its general aspect it resembles Osaka, from which it is
190 m. W. by rail, and next to that place and Hiogo it is the most
important commercial centre on the Inland Sea. The government has an
area of about 3000 sq. m., with a population of about 1,500,000.
Hiroshima is famous all over Japan owing to its association with the
neighbouring islet of Itaku-Shima, "Island of Light," which is dedicated
to the goddess Bentin and regarded as one of the three wonders of Japan.
The chief temple dates from the year 587, and the island, which is
inhabited largely by priests and their attendants, is annually visited
by thousands of pilgrims. But the hallowed soil is never tilled, so that
all provisions have to be brought from the surrounding districts.
HIRPINI (from an Oscan or Sabine stem _hirpo-_, "wolf"), an inland
Samnite tribe in the south of Italy, whose territory was bounded by that
of the Lucani on the S., the Campani on the S.W., the Appuli (Apuli) and
Frentani on the E. and N.E. On the N. we find them, politically
speaking, identified with the Pentri and Caraceni, and with them
constituting the Samnite alliance in the wars of the 4th century B.C.
(see SAMNITES). The Roman policy of separation cut them off from these
allies by the foundation of Beneventum in 268 B.C., and henceforward
they are a separate unit; they joined Hannibal in 216 B.C., and retained
their independence until, after joining in the Social war, which in
their part of Italy can hardly be said to have ceased till the final
defeat of the Samnites by Sulla in 83 B.C., they received the Roman
franchise. Of their Oscan speech, besides the evidence of their
place-names, only a few fragments survive (R. S. Conway, _The Italic
Dialects_, pp. 170 ff.; and for _hirpo-_, ib. p. 200). In the ethnology
of Italy the Hirpini appear from one point of view as the purest type of
Safine stock, namely, that in which the proportion of ethnica formed
with the suffix _-no-_ is highest, thirty-three out of thirty-six tribal
or municipal epithets being formed thereby (e.g. _Caudini_, _Compsani_)
and only one with the suffix -_ti_- (_Abellinates_), where it is
clearly secondary. On the significance of this see SABINI. (R. S. C.)
HIRSAU (formerly _Hirschau_), a village of Germany, in the kingdom of
Wurttemberg, on the Nagold and the Pforzheim-Horb railway, 2 m. N. of
Calw. Pop. 800. Hirsau has some small manufactures, but it owes its
origin and historical interest to its former Benedictine monastery,
_Monasterium Hirsaugiense_, at one period one of the most famous in
Europe. Its picturesque ruins, of which only the chapel with the library
hall are still in good preservation, testify to the pristine grandeur of
the establishment. It was founded about 830 by Count Erlafried of Calw,
at the instigation of his son, Bishop Notting of Vercelli, who enriched
it with, among other treasures, the body of St Aurelius. Its first
occupants (838) were a colony of fifteen monks from Fulda, disciples of
Hrabanus Maurus and Walafrid Strabo, headed by the abbot Liudebert.
During about a century and a half, under the fostering care of the
counts of Calw, it enjoyed great prosperity, and became an important
seat of learning; but towards the end of the 10th century the ravages of
the pestilence combined with the rapacity of its patrons, and the
selfishness and immorality of its inmates, to bring it to the lowest
ebb. After it had been desolate and in ruins for upwards of sixty years
it was rebuilt in 1059, and under Abbot William--Wilhelm von
Hirsau--abbot from 1069 to 1091, it more than regained its former
splendour. By his _Constitutiones Hirsaugienses_, a new religious order,
the Ordo Hirsaugiensis, was formed, the rule of which was afterwards
adopted by many monastic establishments throughout Germany, such as
those of Blaubeuren, Erfurt and Schaffhausen. The friend and
correspondent of Pope Gregory VII., and of Anselm of Canterbury, Abbot
William took active part in the politico-ecclesiastical controversies of
his time; while a treatise from his pen, _De musica et tonis_, as well
as the _Philosophicarum et astronomicarum institutionum libri iii._,
bears witness to his interest in science and philosophy. About the end
of the 12th century the material and moral welfare of Hirsau was again
very perceptibly on the decline; and it never afterwards again rose into
importance. In consequence of the Reformation it was secularized in
1558; in 1692 it was laid in ruins by the French. The _Chronicon
Hirsaugiense_, or, as in the later edition it is called, _Annales
Hirsaugienses_ of Abbot Trithemius (Basel, 1559; St Gall, 1690), is,
although containing much that is merely legendary, an important source
of information, not only on the affairs of this monastery, but also on
the early history of Germany. The _Codex Hirsaugiensis_ was edited by A.
F. Gfrorer and printed at Stuttgart in 1843.
See Steck, _Das Kloster Hirschau_ (1844); Helmsdorfer, _Forschungen
zur Geschichte des Abts Wilhelm von Hirschau_ (Gottingen, 1874);
Weizsacker, _Fuhrer durch die Geschichte des Klosters Hirschau_
(Stuttgart, 1898); Sussmann, _Forschungen zur Geschichte des Klosters
Hirschau_ (Halle, 1903); Giseke, _Die Hirschauer wahrend des
Investiturstreits_ (Gotha, 1883); C. H. Klaiber, _Das Kloster
Hirschau_ (Tubingen, 1886); and Baer, _Die Hirsauer Bauschule_
(Freiburg, 1897).
HIRSCH, MAURICE DE, BARON HIRSCH AUF GEREUTH, in the baronage of Bavaria
(1831-1896), capitalist and philanthropist (German by birth,
Austro-Hungarian by domicile), was born at Munich, 9th December 1831.
His grandfather, the first Jewish landowner in Bavaria, was ennobled
with the _pradikat_ "auf Gereuth" in 1818; his father, who was banker to
the Bavarian king, was created a baron in 1869. The family for
generations has occupied a prominent position in the German Jewish
community. At the age of thirteen young Hirsch was sent to Brussels to
school, but when seventeen years old he went into business. In 1855 he
became associated with the banking house of Bischoffsheim & Goldschmidt,
of Brussels, London and Paris. He amassed a large fortune, which he
increased by purchasing and working railway concessions in Austria,
Turkey and the Balkans, and by speculations in sugar and copper. While
living in great splendour in Paris and London and on his estates in
Hungary, he devoted much of his time to schemes for the relief of his
Hebrew co-religionists in lands where they were persecuted and
oppressed. He took a deep interest in the educational work of the
Alliance Israelite Universelle, and on two occasions presented the
society with gifts of a million francs. For some years he regularly
paid the deficits in the accounts of the Alliance, amounting to several
thousand pounds a year. In 1889 he capitalized his donations and
presented the society with securities producing an annual income of
L16,000. On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the emperor
Francis Joseph's accession to the Austrian throne he gave L500,000 for
the establishment of primary and technical schools in Galicia and the
Bukowina. The greatest charitable enterprise on which he embarked was in
connexion with the persecution of the Jews in Russia (see
ANTI-SEMITISM). He gave L10,000 to the funds raised for the repatriation
of the refugees in 1882, but, feeling that this was a very lame
conclusion to the efforts made in western Europe for the relief of the
Russian Jews, he offered the Russian Government L2,000,000 for the
endowment of a system of secular education to be established in the
Jewish pale of settlement. The Russian Government was willing to accept
the money, but declined to allow any foreigner to be concerned in its
control or administration. Thereupon Baron de Hirsch resolved to devote
the money to an emigration and colonization scheme which should afford
the persecuted Jews opportunities of establishing themselves in
agricultural colonies outside Russia. He founded the Jewish Colonization
Association as an English society, with a capital of L2,000,000, and in
1892 he presented to it a further sum of L7,000,000. On the death of his
wife in 1899 the capital was increased to L11,000,000, of which
L1,250,000 went to the Treasury, after some litigation, in death duties.
This enormous fund, which is probably the greatest charitable trust in
the world, is now managed by delegates of certain Jewish societies,
chiefly the Anglo-Jewish Association of London and the Alliance
Israelite Universelle of Paris, among whom the shares in the association
have been divided. The association, which is prohibited from working for
profit, possesses large colonies in South America, Canada and Asia
Minor. In addition to its vast agricultural work it has a gigantic and
complex machinery for dealing with the whole problem of Jewish
persecution, including emigration and distributing agencies, technical
schools, co-operative factories, savings and loan banks and model
dwellings in the congested Russian jewries. It also subventions and
assists a large number of societies all over the world whose work is
connected with the relief and rehabilitation of Jewish refugees. Besides
this great organization, Baron de Hirsch founded in 1891 a benevolent
trust in the United States for the benefit of Jewish immigrants, which
he endowed with L493,000. His minor charities were on a princely scale,
and during his residence in London he distributed over L100,000 among
the local hospitals. It was in this manner that he disposed of the whole
gross proceeds derived from his successes on the English turf, of which
he was a lavish patron. He raced, as he said himself, "for the London
hospitals," and in 1892, when his filly, La Fleche, won the Oaks, St
Leger and One Thousand Guineas, his donations from this source amounted
to about L40,000. Baron de Hirsch married on 28th June 1855 Clara,
daughter of Senator Bischoffsheim of Brussels (b. 1833), by whom he had
a son and daughter, both of whom predeceased him. He died at Ogyalla,
near Komorn, in Hungary, 21st April 1896. The baroness, who seconded her
husband's charitable work with great munificence--their total
benefactions have been estimated at L18,000,000,--died at Paris on the
1st of April 1899.
For details of Baron de Hirsch's chief charities see the annual
reports of the Alliance Israelite Universelle and of the
"Administration Centrale" of the Jewish Colonization Association.
(L. W.)
HIRSCH, SAMSON RAPHAEL (1808-1888), Jewish theologian, was born in
Hamburg in 1808 and died at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1888. He opposed
the reform tendency of Geiger (q.v.), and presented Jewish orthodoxy in
a new and attractive light. His philosophical conception of tradition,
associated as it was with conservatism in ritual practice, created what
is often known as the Frankfort "Neo-Orthodoxy." Hirsch exercised a
profound influence on the Synagogue and undoubtedly stemmed the tide of
liberalism. His famous _Nineteen Letters_ (1836), with which the
Neo-Orthodoxy began, were translated into English by Drachmann (New
York, 1899). Other works by Hirsch were _Horeb_, and commentaries on
the Pentateuch and Psalms. These are marked by much originality, but
their exegesis is fanciful. Three volumes of his essays have been
published (1902-1908); these were collected as _Gesammelte Schriften_
from his periodical _Jeschurun_.
For Hirsch's religious philosophy see S. A. Hirsch, _A Book of Essays_
(London, 1905). (I. A.)
HIRSCHBERG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia,
beautifully situated at the confluence of the Bober and Zacken, 1120 ft.
above the sea-level, 48 m. S.E. of Gorlitz, on the railway to Glatz,
with branches to Grunthal and Schmiedeberg. Pop. (1905) 19,317. It is
surrounded by pleasant promenades occupying the site of its former
fortifications. It possesses an Evangelical church, the church of the
Holy Cross, one of the six _Gnaden Kirchen_ for the Silesian Protestants
stipulated for in the agreement at Altranstadt between Charles XII. of
Sweden and the emperor Joseph I. in 1707, four Roman Catholic churches,
one of which dates from the 14th century, a synagogue, several schools,
an orphanage and an asylum. The town is the principal emporium of
commerce in the Silesian mountains, and its industries include the
carding and spinning of wool, and the manufacture of linen and cotton
fabrics, yarn, artificial flowers, paper, cement, porcelain,
sealing-wax, blacking, chemicals and cider. There is also a lively trade
in corn, wine and agricultural produce. The town is celebrated for its
romantic surroundings, including the Cavalierberg, from which there is a
splendid view, the Hausberg, the Helicon, crowned by a small Doric
temple, the Kreuzberg, with walks commanding beautiful views, and the
Sattler ravine, over which there is a railway viaduct. Hirschberg was in
existence in the 11th century, and obtained town rights in 1108 from
Duke Boleslaus of Poland. It withstood a siege by the Hussites in 1427,
and an attack of the imperial troops in 1640. The foundation of its
prosperity was laid in the 16th century by the introduction of the
manufacture of linen and veils.
Hirschberg is also the name of a town of Thuringia on the Saale with
manufactures of leather and knives. Pop. 2000.
HIRSON, a town of northern France in the department of Aisne, 35 m. by
rail N.E. of Laon, on the Oise. Pop. (1906) 8335. It occupies an
important strategic position close to the point of intersection of
several railway lines, and not far from the Belgian frontier. For its
defence there are a permanent fort and two batteries, near the railway
junction. The town carries on the manufacture of glass bottles, tiles,
iron and tin goods, wool-spinning and brewing.
HIRTIUS, AULUS (c. 90-43 B.C.), Roman historian and statesman. He was
with Julius Caesar as legate in Gaul, but after the civil war broke out
in 49 he seems to have remained in Rome to protect Caesar's interests.
He was also a personal friend of Cicero. He was nominated with C. Vibius
Pansa by Caesar for the consulship of 43; and after the dictator's
assassination in March 44, he and his colleague supported the senatorial
party against M. Antonius, with whom Hirtius had at first sided. The
consuls set out for Mutina, where Antonius was besieging Decimus Brutus.
On the 15th of April, Pansa was attacked by Antonius at Forum Gallorum,
about 8 m. from Mutina, and lost his life in the engagement. Hirtius,
however, compelled Antonius to retire on Mutina, where another battle
took place on the 25th (or 27th) of April, in which Hirtius was slain.
Of the continuations of Caesar's _Commentaries_--the eighth book of the
Gallic war, the history of the Alexandrian, African and Spanish
wars--the first is generally allowed to be by Hirtius; the Alexandrian
war is perhaps by him (or Oppius); the last two are supposed to have
been written at his request, by persons who had taken part in the events
described, with a view to subsequent revision and incorporation in his
proposed work on military commanders. The language of Hirtius is good,
but his style is monotonous and lacks vigour.
Hirtius and the other continuators of Caesar are discussed in M.
Schanz, _Geschichte der romischen Literatur_, i.; also R. Schneider,
_Bellum Africanum_ (1905). For the history of the period see under
ANTONIUS; Cicero's _Letters_ (ed. Tyrrell and Purser); G. Boissier,
_Cicero and his Friends_ (Eng. trans., 1897).
HISHAM IBN AL-KALBI [Abu-l Mundhir Hisham ibn Mahommed ibn us-Sa'b
ul-Kalb] (d. c. 819), Arabic historian, was born in Kufa, but spent
much of his life in Bagdad. Like his father, on whose authority he
relied largely, he collected information about the genealogies and
history of the ancient Arabs. According to the _Fihrist_ (see NADIM) he
wrote 140 works. As independent works they have almost entirely ceased
to exist, but his account of the genealogies of the Arabs is continually
quoted in the _Kitab ul-Aghani_.
Large extracts from another of his works, the _Kitab ul-Asnam_, are
contained in the _Khizanat ul-Adab_ (iii. 242-246) and in the
geography of Yaqut (q.v.). These latter have been translated with
comments by J. Wellhausen in his _Reste des arabischen Heidentums_
(2nd ed., Berlin, 1897). (G. W. T.)
HISPELLUM (mod. Spello, q.v.), an ancient town of Umbria, Italy, 3 m. N.
of Fulginiae, on the road between it and Perusia, 1030 ft. above
sea-level. It does not appear to be mentioned before the time of
Augustus, who founded a colony there (_Colonia Iulia Hispellum_) and
extended its territory to the springs of the Clitumnus, which had
originally belonged to the territory of Mevania. It received the name of
Flavia Constans by a rescript of the emperor Constantine, a copy of
which on a marble tablet is still preserved at Spello. The gate by which
the town is entered is ancient and has three portrait statues above it;
two other gates and a part of the city wall, built of rectangular blocks
of local limestone, may still be seen, as also the ruins of what is
possibly a triumphal arch (attributed to Augustus) and an amphitheatre,
and perhaps of a theatre, close to the modern high-road, outside the
town. (T. As.)
HISSAR, a district in Central Asia, lying between 66 deg. 30' and 70
deg. E. and 39 deg. 15' and 37 deg. N. and dependent on the amir of
Bokhara. It forms that part of the basin of the Amu-darya or Oxus which
lies on the north side of the river, opposite the Afghan province of
Balkh. The western prolongation of the Tian-shan, which divides the
basin of the Zarafshan from that of the upper Amu, after rising to a
height of 12,300 ft., bifurcates in 67 deg. 45' E. The main chain, the
southern arm of this bifurcation, designated the Hissar range, but
sometimes called also Koh-i-tau, forms the N. and N.W. boundaries of
Hissar. On the W. it is wholly bounded by the desert; the Amu limits it
on the S. and S.E.; and Karateghin and Darvaz complete the boundary on
the E. Until 1875 it was one of the least known tracts of Central Asia.
Hissar is traversed from north to south by four tributaries of the Amu,
viz. the Surkhab or Vakhsh, Kafirnihan, Surkhan and Shirabad-darya,
which descend from the snowy mountains to the north and form a series of
fertile valleys, disposed in a fan-shape, within which lie the principal
towns. In the N.W. boundary range between Khuzar and Derbent is situated
the defile formerly called the Iron Gate (Caspian Gates, Bab-al-Hadid,
Dar Ahanin and in Chinese T'ie-men-kuan) but now styled Buzghol-khana or
the Goat-house. It was also called Kohluga, said to be a Mongol word
meaning barrier. This pass is described as a deep but narrow chasm in a
transverse range, whose rocks overhang and threaten to choke the
tortuous and gloomy corridor (in places but five paces wide) which
affords the only exit from the valley. In ancient times it was a vantage
point of much importance and commanded one of the chief routes between
Turkestan and India. Hsuan Tsang, the Chinese traveller, who passed
through it in the 7th century, states that there were then two folding
doors or gates, cased with iron and hung with bells, placed across the
pass. Clavijo, the Spanish ambassador to the court of Timur, heard of
this when he passed through the defile nearly 800 years later, but the
gates had then disappeared.
The Surkhan valley is highly cultivated, especially in its upper
portion. It supplies Bokhara with corn and sheep, but its chief products
are rice and flax. The town of Hissar (pop. 15,000) commands the
entrance into the fertile valleys of the Surkhan and Kafirnihan, just as
Kabadian at the southern end of the latter defends them from the south.
Hissar was long famous for its damascened swords and its silk goods.
Kulab produces wheat in abundance, and gold is brought thither from the
surrounding districts. Kabadian is a large, silk-producing town, and is
surrounded with rice-fields.
The population consists principally of Uzbegs and Tajiks, the former
predominating and gradually pushing the Tajiks into the hills. On the
banks of the Amu there are Turkomans who work the ferries, drive sheep
and accompany caravans. Lyuli (gipsies), Jews, Hindus and Afghans are
other elements of the population. The climate of the valleys of Hissar
and Kulab is pleasant, as they are protected by mountains to the north
and open towards the south. They produce all the cereals and garden
plants indigenous to Central Asia. Cotton is grown in the district of
Shirabad; and cotton, wheat, flax, sheep and rock-salt are all exported.
_History._--This country was anciently part of the Persian empire of the
Achaemenidae, and probably afterwards of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom,
and then subject to the invading Asiatic tribes who broke up that
kingdom, e.g. the Yue-chi. It was afterwards conquered by the
Ephthalites or White Huns, who were subdued by the Turks in the early
part of the 7th century. It then became subject successively to the
Mahommedan invaders from Persia, and after to the Mongol dynasty of
Jenghiz Khan, and to Timur and his successors. It subsequently became a
cluster of Uzbeg states and was annexed by the amir of Bokhara (q.v.) in
1869-1870, soon after the Russian occupation of Samarkand.
(J. T. Be.; C. El.)
HISSAR, a town and district of British India, in the Delhi division of
the Punjab. The town is situated on the Rajputana railway and the
Western Jumna canal, 102 m. W.N.W. of Delhi. Pop. (1901) 17,647. It was
founded in 1356 by the emperor Feroz Shah, who constructed the canal to
supply it with water; but this fell into decay during the 18th century,
owing to the constant inroads of marauders. Hissar was almost completely
depopulated during the famine of 1783, but was afterwards occupied by
the famous Irish adventurer George Thomas, who built a fort and
collected inhabitants. It is now chiefly known for its cattle and horse
fairs, and has a cotton factory.
The DISTRICT comprises an area of 5217 sq. m. It forms the western
border district of the great Bikanir desert, and consists for the most
part of sandy plains dotted with shrub and brushwood, and broken by
undulations towards the south, which rise into hills of rock like
islands out of a sea of sand. The Ghaggar is its only river, whose
supply is uncertain, depending much on the fall of rain in the lower
Himalayas; its overflow in times of heavy rain is caught by _jhils_,
which dry up in the hot season. The Western Jumna canal crosses the
district from east to west, irrigating many villages. The soil is in
places hard and clayey, and difficult to till; but when sufficiently
irrigated it is highly productive. Old mosques and other buildings exist
in parts of the district. Hissar produces a breed of large milk-white
oxen, which are in great request for the carriages of natives. The
district has always been subject to famine. The first calamity of this
kind of which there is authentic record was in 1783; and Hissar has
suffered severely in more recent famines. Its population in 1901 was
781,717, showing practically no increase in the decade, whereas in the
previous decade there had been an increase of 15%. The climate is very
dry, hot westerly winds blowing from the middle of March till July.
Cotton weaving, ginning and pressing are carried on. The district is
served by the Rajputana-Malwa, the Southern Punjab and the
Jodhpur-Bikanir railways. The chief trading centres are Bhiwani, Hansi,
Hissar and Sirsa.
Before the Mahommedan conquest, the semi-desert tract of which Hissar
district now forms part was the retreat of Chauhan Rajputs. Towards the
end of the 18th century the Bhattis of Bhattiana gained ascendancy after
bloody struggles. To complete the ruin brought on by these conflicts,
nature lent her aid in the great famine of 1783. Hissar passed nominally
to the British in 1803, but they could not enforce order till 1810.
Early in the mutiny of 1857 Hissar was wholly lost for a time to British
rule, and all Europeans were either murdered or compelled to fly. The
Bhattis rose under their hereditary chiefs, and the majority of the
Mahommedan population followed their example. Before Delhi had been
recovered, the rebels were utterly routed.
HISTIAEUS (d. 494 B.C.), tyrant of Miletus under the Persian king Darius
Hystaspis. According to Herodotus he rendered great service to Darius
while he was campaigning in Scythia by persuading his fellow-despots not
to destroy the bridge over the Danube by which the Persians must return.
Choosing his own reward for this service, he became possessor of
territory near Myrcinus (afterwards Amphipolis), rich in timber and
minerals. The success of his enterprise led to his being invited to
Susa, where in the midst of every kind of honour he was virtually a
prisoner of Darius, who had reason to dread his growing power in Ionia.
During this period the Greek cities were left under native despots
supported by Persia, Aristagoras, son-in-law of Histiaeus, being ruler
of Miletus in his stead. This prince, having failed against Naxos in a
joint expedition with the satrap Artaphernes, began to stir up the
Ionians to revolt, and this result was brought to pass, according to
Herodotus, by a secret message from Histiaeus. The revolt assumed a
formidable character and Histiaeus persuaded Darius that he alone could
quell it. He was allowed to leave Susa, but on his arrival at the coast
found himself suspected by the satrap, and was ultimately driven to
establish himself (Herodotus says as a pirate; more probably in charge
of the Bosporus route) at Byzantium. After the total failure of the
revolt at the battle of Lade, he made various attempts to re-establish
himself, but was captured by the Persian Harpagus and crucified by
Artaphernes at Sardis. His head was embalmed and sent to Darius, who
gave it honourable burial. The theory of Herodotus that the Ionian
revolt was caused by the single message of Histiaeus is incredible;
there is evidence to show that the Ionians had been meditating since
about 512 a patriotic revolt against the Persian domination and the
"tyrants" on whom it rested (see Grote, _Hist. of Greece_, ed. 1907,
especially p. 122 note; art. IONIA, and authorities; also S. Heinlein in
_Klio_, 1909, pp. 341-351).
HISTOLOGY (Gr. [Greek: histos], web, tissue, properly the web-beam of
the loom, from [Greek: histanai], to make to stand), the science which
deals with the structure of the tissues of plants and animals (see
CYTOLOGY).
HISTORY. The word "history" is used in two senses. It may mean either
the record of events, or events themselves. Originally (see below)
limited to inquiry and statement, it was only in comparatively modern
times that the meaning of the word was extended to include the phenomena
which form or might form their subject. It was perhaps by a somewhat
careless transference of ideas that this extension was brought about.
Now indeed it is the commoner meaning. We speak of the "history of
England" without reference to any literary narrative. We term kings and
statesmen the "makers of history," and sometimes say that the historian
only records the history which they make. History in this connexion is
obviously not the record, but the thing to be recorded. It is
unfortunate that such a double meaning of the word should have grown up,
for it is productive of not a little confusion of thought.
History in the wider sense is all that has happened, not merely all the
phenomena of human life, but those of the natural world as well. It
includes everything that undergoes change; and as modern science has
shown that there is nothing absolutely static, therefore the whole
universe, and every part of it, has its history. The discovery of ether
brought with it a reconstruction of our ideas of the physical universe,
transferring the emphasis from the mathematical expression of static
relationships to a dynamic conception of a universe in constant
transformation; matter in equipoise became energy in gradual
readjustment. Solids are solids no longer. The universe is in motion in
every particle of every part; rock and metal merely a transition stage
between crystallization and dissolution. This idea of universal activity
has in a sense made physics itself a branch of history. It is the same
with the other sciences--especially the biological division, where the
doctrine of evolution has induced an attitude of mind which is
distinctly historical.
But the tendency to look at things historically is not merely the
attitude of men of science. Our outlook upon life differs in just this
particular from that of preceding ages. We recognize the unstable
nature of our whole social fabric, and are therefore more and more
capable of transforming it. Our institutions are no longer held to be
inevitable and immutable creations. We do not attempt to fit them to
absolute formulae, but continually adapt them to a changing environment.
Even modern architecture, notably in America, reflects the consciousness
of change. The permanent character of ancient or medieval buildings was
fitted only to a society dominated by static ideals. Now the architect
builds, not for all time, but for a set of conditions which will
inevitably cease in the not distant future. Thus our whole society not
only bears the marks of its evolution, but shows its growing
consciousness of the fact in the most evident of its arts. In
literature, philosophy and political science, there is the same
historical trend. Criticism no longer judges by absolute standards; it
applies the standards of the author's own environment. We no longer
condemn Shakespeare for having violated the ancient dramatic laws, nor
Voltaire for having objected to the violations. Each age has its own
expression, and in judging each we enter the field of history. In
ethics, again, the revolt against absolute standards limits us to the
relative, and morals are investigated on the basis of history, as
largely conditioned by economic environment and the growth of
intellectual freedom. Revelation no longer appeals to scientific minds
as a source of knowledge. Experience on the other hand is history. As
for political science, we do not regard the national state as that
ultimate and final product which men once saw in the Roman Empire. It
has hardly come into being before forces are evident which aim at its
destruction. Internationalism has gained ground in Europe in recent
years; and Socialism itself, which is based upon a distinct
interpretation of history, is regarded by its followers as merely a
stage in human progress, like those which have gone before it. It is
evident that Freeman's definition of history as "past politics" is
miserably inadequate. Political events are mere externals. History
enters into every phase of activity, and the economic forces which urge
society along are as much its subject as the political result.
In short the historical spirit of the age has invaded every field. The
world-picture presented in this encyclopaedia is that of a dynamic
universe, of phenomena in process of ceaseless change. Owing to this
insistent change all things which happen, or seem to happen, are history
in the broader sense of the word. The encyclopaedia itself is a history
of them in the stricter sense,--the description and record of this
universal process. This narrower meaning is the subject of the rest of
this article.