8th of December 1795, at Tondern, in the duchy of Schleswig. The son of
a goldsmith, he learned the trade of a watchmaker at Flensburg, and
exercised it at Berlin and Tondern, 1818-1820. He had, however, long
been a student of science; and Dr Dircks, a physician practising at
Tondern, prevailed with his father to send him in 1820 to Copenhagen,
where he won the patronage of H. C. Schumacher, and attracted the
personal notice of King Frederick VI. The Danish survey was then in
progress, and he acted as Schumacher's assistant in work connected with
it, chiefly at the new observatory of Altona, 1821-1825. Thence he
passed on to Gotha as director of the Seeberg observatory; nor could he
be tempted to relinquish the post by successive invitations to replace
F. G. W. Struve at Dorpat in 1829, and F. W. Bessel at Konigsberg in
1847. The problems of gravitational astronomy engaged the chief part of
Hansen's attention. A research into the mutual perturbations of Jupiter
and Saturn secured for him the prize of the Berlin Academy in 1830, and
a memoir on cometary disturbances was crowned by the Paris Academy in
1850. In 1838 he published a revision of the lunar theory, entitled
_Fundamenta nova investigationis_, &c., and the improved Tables of the
Moon based upon it were printed in 1857, at the expense of the British
government, their merit being further recognized by a grant of L1000,
and by their immediate adoption in the _Nautical Almanac_, and other
Ephemerides. A theoretical discussion of the disturbances embodied in
them (still familiarly known to lunar experts as the _Darlegung_)
appeared in the _Abhandlungen_ of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in
1862-1864. Hansen twice visited England and was twice (in 1842 and 1860)
the recipient of the Royal Astronomical Society's gold medal. He
communicated to that society in 1847 an able paper on a long-period
lunar inequality (_Memoirs Roy. Astr. Society_, xvi. 465), and in 1854
one on the moon's figure, advocating the mistaken hypothesis of its
deformation by a huge elevation directed towards the earth (Ib. xxiv.
29). He was awarded the Copley medal by the Royal Society in 1850, and
his Solar Tables, compiled with the assistance of Christian Olufsen,
appeared in 1854. Hansen gave in 1854 the first intimation that the
accepted distance of the sun was too great by some millions of miles
(_Month. Notices Roy. Astr. Soc._ xv. 9), the error of J. F. Encke's
result having been rendered evident through his investigation of a lunar
inequality. He died on the 28th of March 1874, at the new observatory in
the town of Gotha, erected under his care in 1857.
See _Vierteljahrsschrift astr. Gesellschaft_, x. 133; _Month. Notices
Roy. Astr. Society_, xxxv. 168; _Proc. Roy. Society_, xxv. p. v.; R.
Wolf, _Geschichte der Astronomie_, p. 526; _Wochenschrift fur
Astronomie_, xvii. 207 (account of early years by E. Heis);
_Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_ (C. Bruhns). (A. M. C.)
HANSI, a town of British India, in the Hissar district of the Punjab, on
a branch of the Western Jumna canal, with a station on the
Rewari-Ferozepore railway, 16 m. E. of Hissar. Pop. (1901) 16,523. Hansi
is one of the most ancient towns in northern India, the former capital
of the tract called Hariana. At the end of the 18th century it was the
headquarters of the famous Irish adventurer George Thomas; from 1803 to
1857 it was a British cantonment, and it became the scene of a murderous
outbreak during the Mutiny. A ruined fort overlooks the town, which is
still surrounded by a high brick wall, with bastions and loop holes. It
is a centre of local trade, with factories for ginning and pressing
cotton.
HANSOM, JOSEPH ALOYSIUS (1803-1882), English architect and inventor, was
born in York on the 26th of October 1803. Showing an aptitude for
designing and construction, he was taken from his father's joinery shop
and apprenticed to an architect in York, and, by 1831, his designs for
the Birmingham town hall were accepted and followed--to his financial
undoing, as he had become bond for the builders. In 1834 he registered
the design of a "Patent Safety Cab," and subsequently sold the patent to
a company for L10,000, which, however, owing to the company's financial
difficulties, was never paid. The hansom cab as improved by subsequent
alterations, nevertheless, took and held the fancy of the public. There
was no back seat for the driver in the original design, and there is
little beside the suspended axle and large wheels in the modern hansom
to recall the early ones. In 1834 Hansom founded the _Builder_
newspaper, but was compelled to retire from this enterprise owing to
insufficient capital. Between 1854 and 1879 he devoted himself to
architecture, designing and erecting a great number of important
buildings, private and public, including churches, schools and convents
for the Roman Catholic church to which he belonged. Buildings from his
designs are scattered all over the United Kingdom, and were even erected
in Australia and South America. He died in London on the 29th of June
1882.
HANSON, SIR RICHARD DAVIES (1805-1876), chief justice of South
Australia, was born in London on the 6th of December 1805. Admitted a
solicitor in 1828, he practised for some time in London. In 1838 he went
with Lord Durham to Canada as assistant-commissioner of inquiry into
crown lands and immigration. In 1840, on the death of Lord Durham, whose
private secretary he had been, he settled in Wellington, New Zealand. He
there acted as crown prosecutor, but in 1846 removed to South Australia.
In 1851 he was appointed advocate-general of that colony and took an
active share in the passing of many important measures, such as the
first Education Act, the District Councils Act of 1852, and the Act of
1856 which granted constitutional government to the colony. In 1856 and
again from 1857 to 1860 he was attorney-general and leader of the
government. In 1861 he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court
of South Australia and was knighted in 1869. He died in Australia on the
4th of March 1876.
HANSTEEN, CHRISTOPHER (1784-1873), Norwegian astronomer and physicist,
was born at Christiania, on the 26th of September 1784. From the
cathedral school he went to the university at Copenhagen, where first
law and afterwards mathematics formed his main study. In 1806 he taught
mathematics in the gymnasium of Frederiksborg, Zeeland, and in the
following year he began the inquiries in terrestrial magnetism with
which his name is especially associated. He took in 1812 the prize of
the Danish Royal Academy of Sciences for his reply to a question on the
magnetic axes. Appointed lecturer in 1814, he was in 1816 raised to the
chair of astronomy and applied mathematics in the university of
Christiania. In 1819 he published a volume of researches on terrestrial
magnetism, which was translated into German by P. T. Hanson, under the
title of _Untersuchungen uber den Magnetismus der Erde_, with a
supplement containing _Beobachtungen der Abweichung und Neigung der
Magnetnadel_ and an atlas. By the rules there framed for the observation
of magnetical phenomena Hansteen hoped to accumulate analyses for
determining the number and position of the magnetic poles of the earth.
In prosecution of his researches he travelled over Finland and the
greater part of his own country; and in 1828-1830 he undertook, in
company with G. A. Erman, and with the co-operation of Russia, a
government mission to Western Siberia. A narrative of the expedition
soon appeared (_Reise-Erinnerungen aus Sibirien_, 1854; _Souvenirs_
_d'un voyage en Siberie_, 1857); but the chief work was not issued till
1863 (_Resultate magnetischer Beobachtungen_, &c.). Shortly after the
return of the mission, an observatory was erected in the park of
Christiania (1833), and Hansteen was appointed director. On his
representation a magnetic observatory was added in 1839. In 1835-1838 he
published text-books on geometry and mechanics; and in 1842 he wrote his
_Disquisitiones de mutationibus quas patitur momentum acus magneticae_,
&c. He also contributed various papers to different scientific journals,
especially the _Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne_, of which he became
joint-editor in 1823. He superintended the trigonometrical and
topographical survey of Norway, begun in 1837. In 1861 he retired from
active work, but still pursued his studies, his _Observations de
l'inclination magnetique_ and _Sur les variations seculaires du
magnetisme_ appearing in 1865. He died at Christiania on the 11th of
April 1873.
HANTHAWADDY, a district in the Pegu division of Lower Burma, the home
district of Rangoon, from which the town was detached to make a separate
district in 1880. It has an area of 3023 sq. m., with a population in
1901 of 484,811, showing an increase of 22% in the decade. Hanthawaddy
and Henzada are the two most densely populated districts in the
province. It consists of a vast plain stretching up from the sea between
the To or China Bakir mouth of the Irrawaddy and the Pegu Yomas. Except
the tract lying between the Pegu Yomas on the east and the Hlaing river,
the country is intersected by numerous tidal creeks, many navigable by
large boats and some by steamers. The headquarters of the district are
in Rangoon, which is also the sub-divisional headquarters. The second
sub-division has its headquarters at Insein, where there are large
railway works. Cultivation is almost wholly confined to rice, but there
are many vegetable and fruit gardens.
HANUKKAH, a Jewish festival, the "Feast of Dedication" (cf. John x. 22)
or the "Feast of the Maccabees," beginning on the 25th day of the ninth
month _Kislev_ (December), of the Hebrew ecclesiastical year, and
lasting eight days. It was instituted in 165 B.C. in commemoration of,
and thanksgiving for, the purification of the temple at Jerusalem on
this day by Judas Maccabaeus after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes,
king of Syria, who in 168 B.C. set up a pagan altar to Zeus Olympius.
The Talmudic sources say that when the perpetual lamp of the temple was
to be relighted only one flask of holy oil sufficient for the day
remained, but this miraculously lasted for the eight days (cf. the
legend in 2 Macc. i. 18). In memory of this the Jews burn both in
synagogues and in houses on the first night of the festival one light,
on the second two, and so on to the end (so the Hillelites), or vice
versa eight lights on the first, and one less on each succeeding night
(so the Shammaites). From the prominence of the lights the festival is
also known as the "Festival of Lights" or "Illumination" (_Talmud_). It
is said that the day chosen by Judas for the setting up of the new altar
was the anniversary of that on which Antiochus had set up the pagan
altar; hence it is suggested (e.g. by Wellhausen) that the 25th of
Kislev was an old pagan festival, perhaps the day of the winter
solstice.
For further details and illustrations of Hanukkah lamps see _Jewish
Encyc._, s.v.
HANUMAN, in Hindu mythology, a monkey-god, who forms a central figure in
the _Ramayana_. He was the child of a nymph by the god of the wind. His
exploits, as the ally of Rama (incarnation of Vishnu) in the latter's
recovery of his wife Sita from the clutches of the demon Ravana, include
the bridging of the straits between India and Ceylon with huge boulders
carried away from the Himalayas. He is the leader of a host of monkeys
who aid in these supernatural deeds. Temples in his honour are frequent
throughout India.
HANWAY, JONAS (1712-1786), English traveller and philanthropist, was
born at Portsmouth in 1712. While still a child, his father, a
victualler, died, and the family moved to London. In 1729 Jonas was
apprenticed to a merchant in Lisbon. In 1743, after he had been some
time in business for himself in London, he became a partner with Mr
Dingley, a merchant in St Petersburg, and in this way was led to travel
in Russia and Persia. Leaving St Petersburg on the 10th of September
1743, and passing south by Moscow, Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan, he embarked
on the Caspian on the 22nd of November, and arrived at Astrabad on the
18th of December. Here his goods were seized by Mohammed Hassan Beg, and
it was only after great privations that he reached the camp of Nadir
Shah, under whose protection he recovered most (85%) of his property.
His return journey was embarrassed by sickness (at Resht), by attacks
from pirates, and by six weeks' quarantine; and he only reappeared at St
Petersburg on the 1st of January 1745. He again left the Russian capital
on the 9th of July 1750 and travelled through Germany and Holland to
England (28th of October). The rest of his life was mostly spent in
London, where the narrative of his travels (published in 1753) soon made
him a man of note, and where he devoted himself to philanthropy and good
citizenship. In 1756 he founded the Marine Society, to keep up the
supply of British seamen; in 1758 he became a governor of the Foundling,
and established the Magdalen, hospital; in 1761 he procured a better
system of parochial birth-registration in London; and in 1762 he was
appointed a commissioner for victualling the navy (10th of July); this
office he held till October 1783. He died, unmarried, on the 5th of
September 1786. He was the first Londoner, it is said, to carry an
umbrella, and he lived to triumph over all the hackney coachmen who
tried to hoot and hustle him down. He attacked "vail-giving," or
tipping, with some temporary success; by his onslaught upon tea-drinking
he became involved in controversy with Johnson and Goldsmith. His last
efforts were on behalf of little chimney-sweeps. His advocacy of
solitary confinement for prisoners and opposition to Jewish
naturalization were more questionable instances of his activity in
social matters.
Hanway left seventy-four printed works, mostly pamphlets; the only one
of literary importance is the _Historical Account of British Trade
over the Caspian Sea, with a Journal of Travels_, &c. (London, 1753).
On his life, see also Pugh, _Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of
Jonas Hanway_ (London, 1787); _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. xxxii. p.
342; vol. lvi. pt. ii. pp. 812-814, 1090, 1143-1144; vol. lxv. pt. ii.
pp. 721-722, 834-835; _Notes and Queries_, 1st series, i. 436, ii. 25;
3rd series, vii. 311; 4th series, viii. 416.
HANWELL, an urban district in the Brentford parliamentary division of
Middlesex, England, 10-1/2 m. W. of St Paul's cathedral, London, on the
river Brent and the Great Western railway. Pop. (1891) 6139; (1901)
10,438. It ranks as an outer residential suburb of London. The Hanwell
lunatic asylum of the county of London has been greatly extended since
its erection 1831, and can accommodate over 2500 inmates. The extensive
cemeteries of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, and St George, Hanover Square,
London, are here. In the churchyard of St Mary's church was buried Jonas
Hanway (d. 1786), traveller, philanthropist, and by repute, introducer
of the umbrella into England. The Roman Catholic Convalescent Home for
women and children was erected in 1865. Before the Norman period the
manor of Hanwell belonged to Westminster Abbey.
HAPARANDA (Finnish _Haaparanta_, "Aspen Shore"), a town of Sweden in the
district (_lan_) of Norbotten, at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia. Pop.
(1900) 1568. It lies about 1-1/2 m. from the mouth of the Torne river,
on the frontier with Russia (Finland), opposite the town of Tornea which
has belonged to Russia since 1809. The towns are divided by a marshy
channel, formerly the bed of the Torne, but the main stream is now east
of the Russian town. Haparanda was founded in 1812, and at first bore
the name of Karljohannstad. It received its municipal constitution in
1842. Shipbuilding is prosecuted. Sea-going vessels load and unload at
Salmio, 7 m. from Haparanda. Since 1859 the town has been the seat of an
important meteorological station. Annual mean temperature, 32.4 deg.
Fahr.; February 10.5 deg.; July 58.8 deg. Rainfall, 16.5 in. annually.
Up the Torne valley (54 m.) is the hill Avasaxa, whither pilgrimages
were formerly made in order to stand in the light of the sun at midnight
on St John's day (June 24).
HAPLODRILI (so called by Lankester), often called Archiannelida
(Hatschek), the name provisionally given to a number of interesting
lowly-organized marine worms, whose affinities are very doubtful (see
CHAETOPODA.) _Polygordius_ and _Protodrilus_ live in sand, but while
the former moves by means of the contraction of its body-wall muscles,
_Protodrilus_ can progress by the action of the bands of cilia
surrounding its segments, and of the longitudinal ciliated ventral
groove. _Saccocirrus_, which also lives in sand, and more closely
resembles the Polychaeta, has throughout the greater length of its body
on each segment a pair of small uniramous parapodia bearing a bunch of
simple setae. No other member of the group is known to have any trace of
setae or parapodia at any stage of development.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.
A, _Polygordius neapolitanus_. (From Fraipont.)
B, Transverse section of _Polygordius_. (From Fraipont.)
C, Trochophore of _Polygordius_. and D, later stage of the same,
showing the development of the trunk. (From Hatschek.)
E, Dorsal view of _Dinophilus taeniatus_.
F, Male apparatus of the same (From Harmer.)
a, Anus.
ap, Apical organ.
c, Coelom.
c.o, Ciliated pit.
c.t, Cuticle.
d.v, Dorsal vessel.
e, Eye.
ep, Epidermis.
g.f, Genital funnel.
h, "Head kidney," with second nephridium just below it.
i, Intestine.
l.m, Longitudinal muscles.
m, Mouth.
m.o, Muscular pharyngeal organ.
m.p, Male pore.
n, Nephridium.
o.m, Oblique muscles.
ov, Ovary.
p, Penis.
pr, Prototroch.
pt, Prostomial tentacle.
sp, Sperm-sac.
spd, Sperm-duct.
st, Stomach.
t, Testes.
tr, Trunk segment.
tt, Telotroch.
v.n, Ventral nerve cord.
v.v, Ventral vessel.]
These three genera have the following characters in common. The body
is composed of a large number of segments; the prostomium bears a pair
of tentacles; the nervous system consists of a brain and longitudinal
ventral nerve cords closely connected with the epidermis (without
distinct ganglia), widely separated in _Saccocirrus_, closely
approximated in _Protodrilus_, fused together in _Polygordius_; the
coelom is well developed, the septa are distinct, and the dorsal and
ventral longitudinal mesenteries are complete; the nephridia are
simple, and open into the coelom. Polygordius differs from
_Protodrilus_ and _Saccocirrus_ in the absence of a distinct
suboesophageal muscular pouch, and in the absence of a peculiar closed
cavity in the head region, which is especially well developed in
_Saccocirrus_, and probably represents the specialized coelom of the
first segment. Moreover, in _Saccocirrus_ the genital organs, present
in the majority of the trunk segments, have become much complicated
(fig. 2). In the female there is in every fertile segment a pair of
spermathecae opening at the nephridiopores. In the male there are a
right and a left protrusible penis in every genital segment, into
which opens the nephridium and a sperm-sac. The wide funnels of the
nephridia of this region are possibly of coelomic origin.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Diagram of a transverse section of
_Saccocirrus_ showing on the left side the organs in a genital segment
of a male, and on the right side the organs in a genital segment of a
female. (From Goodrich.)]
_Dinophilus_ is a free-swimming form without tentacles, and with
segmental bands of cilia (fig. 1). The parasitic _Histriodritus_
(Histriobdella) feeds on the eggs of the lobster. It resembles
_Dinophilus_ in the possession of a ventral pharyngeal pouch (which
bears teeth in _Histriodrilus_ only), the small number of segments,
and absence of distinct septa, the absence of a vascular system, the
presence of distinct ganglia on the ventral nerve cords, and of small
nephridia which do not appear to open internally. _Histriodrilus_
resembles _Saccocirrus_ in the possession of two posterior adhesive
processes, and to some extent in the structure of the complex genital
organs, which, however, are restricted to a single segment. In
_Dinophilus_, there is also only a single pair of genital ducts
behind; and in the male there are sperm-sacs and a median penis. In
some species of _Dinophilus_ there is pronounced sexual dimorphism
(the male being small and without gut) as in the Rotifera. The
resemblance of _Dinophilus_ to the Rotifera is, however, quite
superficial, and the general structure of this genus with distinct
traces of segmentation, especially in the embryo, points to its close
affinity, if not to _Polygordius_ in particular, at all events to the
Annelida.
That _Polygordius_, _Protodrilus_ and _Saccocirrus_ are on the whole
primitive forms, and related to each other, there can be little doubt,
but their place amongst the Annelida is difficult to determine. The
development of _Polygordius_ alone is well known, having been studied
by Hatschek, Fraipont and others. The larva (fig. 1, C and D) is a
typical but very specialized form of trochophore, provided with a
branching nephridium bearing solenocytes. The trunk develops on the
lower surface of the disk-like larva, which undergoes a more or less
sudden metamorphosis into the young worm (fig. 1). There appears to be
little either in the development or in the structure of the Haplodrili
to warrant the view held by Hatschek and Fraipont that _Polygordius_
and _Protodrilus_ are exceedingly primitive forms, ancestral to the
whole group of seta-bearing Annelids (Oligochaeta, Polychaeta,
Hirudinea and Echiuroidea). Whatever may be the conclusion as to the
position of _Dinophilus_ and _Histriodrilus_, it seems only reasonable
to suppose that _Polygordius_ and _Protodrilus_, so far from
representing a stage in the phylogeny of the Annelida before setae
were developed, have lost the setae, which are already in a reduced
state in _Saccocirrus_.
AUTHORITIES.--Hatschek, "Studien z. Entw. der Anneliden," _Arb. Zool.
Inst. Wien_, vol. i., 1878; "Protodrilus," ibid. vol. iii. (1881);
Fraipont, "Le Genre Polygordius," _Fauna u. Flora d. Golfes v.
Neapel._, xiv., 1887; Weldon, "Dinophilus gigas," _Quart. Journ. Micr.
Sci._ vol. xxvii., 1886; Harmer, "Dinophilus," _Journ. Mar. Biol._
N.S. vol. i., 1889; Schimkewitsch, "Entwickl. des _Dinophilus," Zeit.
f. wiss. Zool._ vol. lix., 1895; Korschelt, "Uber Bau u. Entw. des
_Dinophilus," Zeit. f. wiss. Zool._ vol. xxxvii., 1882; Foettinger,
"Histriobdella," _Arch. Biol._ vol. v., 1884; Goodrich, "On
Saccocirrus," _Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci._ vol. xliv., 1901.
(E. S. G.)
HAPTARA (lit. _conclusion_), the Hebrew title given to the prophetic
lessons with which the ancient Synagogue service concluded. In the time
of Christ these prophetic lessons were already in vogue, and Christ
himself read the lessons and discoursed on them in the synagogues of
Galilee. In the modern synagogue these readings from the prophets are
regularly included in the ritual of Sabbaths, festivals and some other
occasions.
A list of the current lessons is given in the _Jewish Encyclopedia_,
vol. vi. pp. 136-137. (I. A.)
HAPUR, a town of British India in the Meerut district of the United
Provinces, 18 m. S. of Meerut. Pop. (1901) 17,796. It is said to have
been founded in the 10th century, and was granted by Sindhia to his
French general Perron at the end of the 18th century. Several fine
groves surround the town, but the wall and ditch have fallen out of
repair, and only the names of the five gates remain. Considerable trade
is carried on in sugar, grain, cotton, timber, bamboos and brass
utensils.
HARA-KIRI (Japanese _hara_, belly, and _kiri_, cutting),
self-disembowelment, primarily the method of suicide permitted to
offenders of the noble class in feudal Japan, and later the national
form of honourable suicide. Hara-kiri has been often translated as "the
happy dispatch" in confusion with a native euphemism for the act. More
usually the Japanese themselves speak of hara-kiri by its Chinese
synonym, _Seppuku_. Hara-kiri is not an aboriginal Japanese custom. It
was a growth of medieval militarism, the act probably at first being
prompted by the desire of the noble to escape the humiliation of falling
into an enemy's hands. By the end of the 14th century the custom had
become a much valued privilege, being formally established as such under
the Ashi-Kaga dynasty. Hara-kiri was of two kinds, obligatory and
voluntary. The first is the more ancient. An official or noble, who had
broken the law or been disloyal, received a message from the emperor,
couched always in sympathetic and gracious tones, courteously intimating
that he must die. The mikado usually sent a jewelled dagger with which
the deed might be done. The suicide had so many days allotted to him by
immemorial custom in which to make dignified preparations for the
ceremony, which was attended by the utmost formality. In his own
baronial hall or in a temple a dais 3 or 4 in. from the ground was
constructed. Upon this was laid a rug of red felt. The suicide, clothed
in his ceremonial dress as an hereditary noble, and accompanied by his
second or "Kaishaku," took his place on the mat, the officials and his
friends ranging themselves in a semicircle round the dais. After a
minute's prayer the weapon was handed to him with many obeisances by the
mikado's representative, and he then made a public confession of his
fault. He then stripped to the waist. Every movement in the grim
ceremony was governed by precedent, and he had to tuck his wide sleeves
under his knees to prevent himself falling backwards, for a Japanese
noble must die falling forward. A moment later he plunged the dagger
into his stomach below the waist on the left side, drew it across to the
right and, turning it, gave a slight cut upward. At the same moment the
Kaishaku who crouched at his friend's side, leaping up, brought his
sword down on the outstretched neck. At the conclusion of the ceremony
the bloodstained dagger was taken to the mikado as a proof of the
consummation of the heroic act. The performance of hara-kiri carried
with it certain privileges. If it was by order of the mikado half only
of a traitor's property was forfeited to the state. If the gnawings of
conscience drove the disloyal noble to voluntary suicide, his dishonour
was wiped out, and his family inherited all his fortune.
Voluntary hara-kiri was the refuge of men rendered desperate by private
misfortunes, or was committed from loyalty to a dead superior, or as a
protest against what was deemed a false national policy. This voluntary
suicide still survives, a characteristic case being that of Lieutenant
Takeyoshi who in 1891 gave himself the "belly-cut" in front of the
graves of his ancestors at Tokyo as a protest against what he considered
the criminal lethargy of the government in not taking precautions
against possible Russian encroachments to the north of Japan. In the
Russo-Japanese War, when faced by defeat at Vladivostock, the officer in
command of the troops on the transport "Kinshu Maru" committed
hara-kiri. Hara-kiri has not been uncommon among women, but in their
case the mode is by cutting the throat. The popularity of this
self-immolation is testified to by the fact that for centuries no fewer
than 1500 hara-kiris are said to have taken place annually, at least
half being entirely voluntary. Stories of amazing heroism are told in
connexion with the performance of the act. One noble, barely out of his
teens, not content with giving himself the customary cuts, slashed
himself thrice horizontally and twice vertically. Then he stabbed
himself in the throat until the dirk protruded on the other side with
the sharp edge to the front, and with a supreme effort drove the knife
forward with both hands through his neck. Obligatory hara-kiri was
obsolete in the middle of the 19th century, and was actually abolished
in 1868.
See A. B. Mitford, _Tales of Old Japan_; Basil Hall Chamberlain,
_Things Japanese_ (1898).
HARALD, the name of four kings of Norway.
HARALD I. (850-933), surnamed Haarfager (of the beautiful hair), first
king over Norway, succeeded on the death or his father Halfdan the Black
in A.D. 860 to the sovereignty of several small and somewhat scattered
kingdoms, which had come into his father's hands through conquest and
inheritance and lay chiefly in south-east Norway (see NORWAY). The tale
goes that the scorn of the daughter of a neighbouring king induced
Harald to take a vow not to cut nor comb his hair until he was sole king
of Norway, and that ten years later he was justified in trimming it;
whereupon he exchanged the epithet "Shockhead" for the one by which he
is usually known. In 866 he made the first of a series of conquests over
the many petty kingdoms which then composed Norway; and in 872, after a
great victory at Hafrsfjord near Stavanger, he found himself king over
the whole country. His realm was, however, threatened by dangers from
without, as large numbers of his opponents had taken refuge, not only in
Iceland, then recently discovered, but also in the Orkneys, Shetlands,
Hebrides and Faeroes, and in Scotland itself; and from these winter
quarters sallied forth to harry Norway as well as the rest of northern
Europe. Their numbers were increased by malcontents from Norway, who
resented Harald's claim of rights of taxation over lands which the
possessors appear to have previously held in absolute ownership. At last
Harald was forced to make an expedition to the west to clear the islands
and Scottish mainland of Vikings. Numbers of them fled to Iceland, which
grew into an independent commonwealth, while the Scottish isles fell
under Norwegian rule. The latter part of Harald's reign was disturbed by
the strife of his many sons. He gave them all the royal title and
assigned lands to them which they were to govern as his representatives;
but this arrangement did not put an end to the discord, which continued
into the next reign. When he grew old he handed over the supreme power
to his favourite son Erik "Bloody Axe," whom he intended to be his
successor. Harald died in 933, in his eighty-fourth year.
HARALD II., surnamed Graafeld, a grandson of Harald I., became, with his
brothers, ruler of the western part of Norway in 961; he was murdered in
Denmark in 969.
HARALD III. (1015-1066), king of Norway, surnamed Haardraade, which
might be translated "ruthless," was the son of King Sigurd and
half-brother of King Olaf the Saint. At the age of fifteen he was
obliged to flee from Norway, having taken part in the battle of
Stiklestad (1030), at which King Olaf met his death. He took refuge for
a short time with Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod (a kingdom founded by
Scandinavians), and thence went to Constantinople, where he took service
under the empress Zoe, whose Varangian guard he led to frequent victory
in Italy, Sicily and North Africa, also penetrating to Jerusalem. In the
year 1042 he left Constantinople, the story says because he was refused
the hand of a princess, and on his way back to his own country he
married Ellisif or Elizabeth, daughter of Yaroslav of Novgorod. In
Sweden he allied himself with the defeated Sven of Denmark against his
nephew Magnus, now king of Norway, but soon broke faith with Sven and
accepted an offer from Magnus of half his kingdom. In return for this
gift Harald is said to have shared with Magnus the enormous treasure
which he had amassed in the East. The death of Magnus in 1047 put an end
to the growing jealousies between the two kings, and Harald turned all
his attention to the task of subjugating Denmark, which he ravaged year
after year; but he met with such stubborn resistance from Sven that in
1064 he gave up the attempt and made peace. Two years afterwards,
possibly instigated by the banished Earl Tostig of Northumbria, he
attempted the conquest of England, to the sovereignty of which his
predecessor had advanced a claim as successor of Harthacnut. In
September 1066 he landed in Yorkshire with a large army, reinforced from
Scotland, Ireland and the Orkneys; took Scarborough by casting flaming
brands into the town from the high ground above it; defeated the
Northumbrian forces at Fulford; and entered York on the 24th of
September. But the following day the English Harold arrived from the
south, and the end of the long day's fight at Stamford Bridge saw the
rout of the Norwegian forces after the fall of their king (25th of
September 1066). He was only fifty years old, but he was the first of
the six kings who had ruled Norway since the death of Harald Haarfager
to reach that age. As a king he was unpopular on account of his
harshness and want of good faith, but his many victories in the face of
great odds prove him to have been a remarkable general, of never-failing
resourcefulness and indomitable courage.
HARALD IV. (d. 1136), king of Norway, surnamed Gylle (probably from
_Gylle Krist_, i.e. servant of Christ), was born in Ireland about 1103.
About 1127 he went to Norway and declared he was a son of King Magnus
III. (Barefoot), who had visited Ireland just before his death in 1103,
and consequently a half-brother of the reigning king, Sigurd. He appears
to have submitted successfully to the ordeal of fire, and the alleged
relationship was acknowledged by Sigurd on condition that Harald did not
claim any share in the government of the kingdom during his lifetime or
that of his son Magnus. Living on friendly terms with the king, Harald
kept this agreement until Sigurd's death in 1130. Then war broke out
between himself and Magnus, and after several battles the latter was
captured in 1134, his eyes were put out, and he was thrown into prison.
Harald now ruled the country until 1136, when he was murdered by Sigurd
Slembi-Diakn, another bastard son of Magnus Barefoot. Four of Harald's
sons, Sigurd, Ingi, Eysteinn and Magnus, were subsequently kings of
Norway.
HARBIN, or KHARBIN, town of Manchuria, on the right bank of the river
Sungari. Pop. about 20,000. Till 1896 there was only a small village
here, but in that year the town was founded in connexion with surveys
for the Chinese Eastern railway company, at a point which subsequently
became the junction of the main line of the Manchurian railway with the
branch line southward to Port Arthur. Occupying such a position, Harbin
became an important Russian military centre during the Russo-Japanese
War. The portion of the town founded in 1896 is called Old Harbin, but
the centre has shifted to New Harbin, where the chief public buildings
and offices of the railway administration are situated. The river-port
forms a third division of the town, industrially the most important;
here are railway workshops, factories and mercantile establishments.
Trade is chiefly in the hands of the Chinese.
HARBINGER, originally one who provides a shelter or lodging for an army.
The word is derived from the M. E. and O. Fr. _herbergere_, through the
Late Lat. _heribergator_, formed from the O. H. Ger. _heri_, mod. Ger.
_Heer_, an army, and _bergen_, shelter or defence, cf. "harbour." The
meaning was soon enlarged to include any place where travellers could be
lodged or entertained, and also by transference the person who provided
lodgings, and so one who goes on before a party to secure suitable
lodgings in advance. A herald sent forward to announce the coming of a
king. A Knight Harbinger was an officer in the royal household till
1846. In these senses the word is now obsolete. It is used chiefly in
poetry and literature for one who announces the immediate approach of
something, a forerunner. This is illustrated in the "harbinger of
spring," a name given to a small plant belonging to the Umbelliferae,
which has a tuberous root, and small white flowers; it is found in the
central states of North America, and blossoms in March.
HARBOUR (from M. E. _hereberge_, _here_, an army; cf. Ger. _Heer_ and
-_beorg_, protection or shelter. Other early forms in English were
_herberwe_ and _harborow_, as seen in various place names, such as
Market Harborough. The French _auberge_, an inn, derived through
_heberger_, is thus the same word), a place of refuge or shelter. It is
thus used for an asylum for criminals, and particularly for a place of
shelter for ships.
Sheltered sites along exposed sea-coasts are essential for purposes of
trade, and very valuable as refuges for vessels from storms. In a few
places, natural shelter is found in combination with ample depth, as in
the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, New York Harbour (protected by Long Island),
Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Water (sheltered by the Isle of
Wight), and the land-locked creeks of Milford Haven and Kiel Harbour. At
various places there are large enclosed areas which have openings into
the sea; but these lagoons for the most part are very shallow except in
the main channels and at their outlets. Access to them is generally
obstructed by a bar as at the lagoon harbour of Venice (fig. 1), and
similar harbours, like those of Poole and Wexford; and such harbours
usually require works to prevent their deterioration, and to increase
the depth near their outlet. Generally, however, harbours are formed
where shelter is provided to a certain extent by a bay, creek or
projecting headland, but requires to be rendered complete by one or more
breakwaters (see BREAKWATER), or where the approach to a river, a
ship-canal or a seaport, needs protection. A refuge harbour is
occasionally constructed where a long length of stormy coast, near the
ordinary track of vessels, is entirely devoid of natural shelter. Naval
harbours are required by maritime powers as stations for their fleets,
and dockyards for construction and repairs, and also in some cases as
places of shelter from the night attacks of torpedoes. Commercial
harbours have to be provided for the formation of ports within their
shelter on important trade routes, or for the protection of the
approaches from the sea of ports near the sea-coast, or maritime
waterways running inland, in some cases at points on the coast devoid of
all natural shelter. A greater latitude in the selection of suitable
sites is, indeed, possible for refuge and naval harbours than for
commercial harbours; but these three classes of harbours are very
similar in their general outline and the works protecting them, only
differing in size and internal arrangements according to the purpose for
which they have been constructed, the chief differences being due to the
local conditions.
Harbours may be divided into three distinct groups, namely, lagoon
harbours, jetty harbours and sea-coast harbours, protected by
breakwaters, including refuge, naval and commercial harbours.
_Lagoon Harbours._--A lagoon, consisting of a sort of large shallow
lake separated from the sea by a narrow belt of coast, formed of
deposit from a deltaic river or of sand dunes heaped up by on-shore
winds along a sandy shore, possesses good natural shelter; and, owing
to the large expanse which is filled and emptied at each tide, even
when the tidal range is quite small, together with the discharge from
any rivers flowing into the lagoon, one or more fairly deep outlets
are maintained through the fringe of coast, which afford navigable
access to the lagoon; whilst channels formed inside by the currents
lead to ports on its banks. Lagoons, however, are liable to be
gradually silted up, if rivers flowing into them bring down
considerable quantities of alluvium, which is readily deposited in
their fairly still waters; and their outlet channels are in danger of
becoming shallower, by the sea in storms forming additional outlets by
breaking through the narrow barrier separating them from the sea.
Moreover, the approach from the sea to these channels through the
fringe of coast is generally impeded by a bar, owing to the scour of
the issuing current through these outlet channels becoming gradually
too enfeebled, on entering the open sea, to overcome the heaping-up
action of the waves along the shore, which tends to form a continuous
beach across these openings. Rivers, accordingly, whose discharge is
very valuable in maintaining a lagoon if their waters are free from
sediment, must, if possible, be diverted from a lagoon if they bring
down large amounts of silt; whilst the narrow belt of land in front of
the lagoon must be protected from erosion by the waves, on its sea
face, by groynes or revetments. The depth over the bar in front of an
outlet can be improved by concentrating the current through the outlet
by jetties on each side, and prolonging the jetties, and consequently
the scour, out to the bar so as to lower it, and by supplementing the
scouring action, if necessary, by dredging.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Venetian Lagoon Harbour.]
_Jetty Harbours._--Several small ports were formed on the sea-coast
long ago at points where flat marshy ground lying below the level of
high-water, and shut off from the sandy beach by dikes or sand dunes,
was connected with the sea by a small creek or river. Such ports
presented in their original condition a slight resemblance to lagoons
on a very small scale. Several examples are to be found on the sandy
shores of the English Channel and North Sea, such as Dieppe, Boulogne,
Calais, Dunkirk, Nieuport and Ostend, where the influx and efflux of
the water from these enclosed tide-covered areas, through a narrow
opening, sufficed to maintain a shallow channel to the sea across the
beach, deep enough near high-water for vessels of small draught. When
the increase in draught necessitated the provision of an improved
channel, the scour of the issuing current was concentrated and
prolonged by erecting parallel jetties across the beach, raised solid
to a little above low water of neap tides, with open timber-work above
to indicate the channel and guide the vessels. Even this low
obstruction, however, to the littoral drift of sand caused an advance
of the low water line as the jetties were carried out, so that further
extensions of the jetties had eventually to be abandoned, as occurred
at Dunkirk (see DOCK). Moreover, reclamation of the low-lying areas
was gradually effected, thus reducing the tidal scour; and sluicing
basins were excavated in part of the low ground, into which the tide
flowed through the entrance channel, and the water being shut in at
high tide by gates at the outlet of the basin, was released at low
water, producing a rapid current through the channel as a compensation
for the loss of the former natural scour. The current, however, from
the sluicing basin gradually lost its velocity in passing down the
channel, and besides, being most effective near the outlet of the
basin, could only scour the channel down to a moderate depth below low
water, on account of the increase in the volume of still water in the
channel at low tide as its deepening progressed. Lastly, about 1880,
improvements in suction dredgers (see DREDGE and DREDGING) led to the
adoption of sand-pump dredging in the outer part of the channel, and
across the foreshore in front to deep water; and at Dunkirk, docks
were formed on the site of the sluicing basin; whilst at Calais
sluicing was abandoned in favour of dredging. Ostend is the only jetty
harbour in which a large sluicing basin has been recently constructed,
but it can only provide for the maintenance of deep-water quays in its
vicinity; and dredging is relied upon to an increasing extent, both
for the maintenance and further deepening of the outer portion of the
approach channel, and for maintaining the direct channel dredged to
deep water across the Stroombank extending in front of Ostend (fig.
2).
Similar methods of improving the entrance channel to ports possessing
an extensive backwater have been adopted on a large scale in the
United States. For instance at Charleston, converging jetties, about
2-3/4 m. long, have been extended across the bar to concentrate the
scour due to a small tidal range expanding over the enclosed
backwater, 15 sq. m. in extent, and to protect the channel from
littoral drift; but these jetties have caused an advance of the
foreshore, and a progression seawards of the bar, necessitating
dredging beyond the ends of the jetties to maintain the requisite
depth.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Ostend Harbour and Jetty Channel.]
Parallel jetties, moreover, across the beach, combined with extensive
sand-pump dredging, have been employed with success at some of the
ports situated at the outlet of rivers, enclosed bays, or lagoons, on
the sandy shores of south-east Africa, for improving the access to
them across encumbering shoals, where the littoral drift is too great
to allow of the projection of breakwaters from the shore to shelter an
approach channel.
_Harbours Protected by Breakwaters._--The design for a harbour on the
sea-coast must depend on the configuration of the adjacent coast-line,
the extent and direction of the exposure, the amount of sheltered area
required and the depth obtainable, the prospect of the accumulation of
drift or the occurrence of scour from the proposed works, and the best
position for an entrance in respect of shelter and depth of approach.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Genoa Harbour and Extensions.]
_Completion of Shelter of Harbours in Bays._--In the case of a deep,
fairly land-locked bay, a detached breakwater across the outlet
completes the necessary shelter, leaving an entrance between each
extremity and the shore, provided there is deep enough water near the
shore, as effected at Plymouth harbour, and also across the wider but
shallower bay forming Cherbourg harbour. A breakwater may instead be
extended across the outlet from each shore, leaving a single central
entrance between the ends of the breakwaters; and if one breakwater
placed somewhat farther out is made to overlap an inner one, a more
sheltered entrance is obtained. This arrangement has been adopted at
the existing Genoa harbour within the bay (fig. 3), and for the
harbour at the mouth of the Nervion (see RIVER ENGINEERING). The
adoption of a bay with deep water for a harbour does not merely reduce
the shelter to be provided artificially, but it also secures a site
not exposed to silting up, and where the sheltering works do not
interfere with any littoral drift along the open coast. A third method
of sheltering a deep bay is that adopted for forming a refuge harbour
at Peterhead (fig. 4), where a single breakwater is extended out from
one shore for 3250 ft. across the outlet of the bay, leaving a single
entrance between its extremity and the opposite shore and enclosing an
area of about 250 acres at low tide, half of which has a depth of over
5 fathoms.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Peterhead Harbour of Refuge.]
_Harbours possessing partial Natural Shelter._--The most common form
of harbour is that in which one or more breakwaters supplement a
certain amount of natural shelter. Sometimes, where the exposure is
from one direction only, approximately parallel with the coast-line at
the site, and there is more or less shelter from a projecting headland
or a curve of the coast in the opposite direction, a single breakwater
extending out at right angles to the shore, with a slight curve or
bend inwards near its outer end, suffices to afford the necessary
shelter. As examples of this form of harbour construction may be
mentioned Newhaven breakwater, protecting the approach to the port
from the west, and somewhat sheltered from the moderate easterly
storms by Beachy Head, and Table Bay breakwater, which shelters the
harbour from the north-east, and is somewhat protected on the opposite
side by the wide sweep of the coast-line known as Table Bay.
Generally, however, some partial embayment, or abrupt projection from
the coast, is utilized as providing shelter from one quarter, which is
completed by breakwaters enclosing the site, of which Dover and
Colombo (fig. 5) harbours furnish typical and somewhat similar
examples.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Colombo Harbour.]
_Harbours formed on quite Open Seacoasts._--Occasionally harbours have
to be constructed for some special purpose where no natural shelter
exists, and where on an open, sandy shore considerable littoral drift
may occur. Breakwaters, carried out from the shore at some distance
apart, and converging to a central entrance of suitable width, provide
the requisite shelter, as for instance the harbour constructed to form
a sheltered approach to the river Wear and the Sunderland docks (fig.
6). If there is little littoral drift from the most exposed quarter,
the amount of sand brought in during storms, which is smaller in
proportion to the depth into which the entrance is carried, can be
readily removed by dredging; whilst the scour across the projecting
ends of the breakwaters tends to keep the outlet free from deposit.
Where there is littoral drift in both directions on an open, sandy
coast, due to winds blowing alternately from opposite quarters, sand
accumulates in the sheltered angles outside the harbour between each
converging breakwater and the shore. This has happened at Ymuiden
harbour at the entrance to the Amsterdam ship-canal on the North Sea,
but there the advance of the shore appears to have reached its limit
only a short distance out from the old shore-line on each side; and
the only evidence of drift consists in the advance seawards of the
lines of soundings alongside, and in the considerable amount of sand
which enters the harbour and has to be removed by dredging. The worst
results occur where the littoral drift is almost wholly in one
direction, so that the projection of a solid breakwater out from the
shore causes a very large accretion on the side facing the exposed
quarter; whilst owing to the arrest of the travel of sand, erosion of
the beach occurs beyond the second breakwater enclosing the harbour on
its comparatively sheltered side. These effects have been produced at
Port Said harbour at the entrance to the Suez Canal from the
Mediterranean, formed by two converging breakwaters, where, owing to
the prevalent north-westerly winds, the drift is from west to east,
and is augmented by the alluvium issuing from the Nile. Accordingly,
the shore has advanced considerably against the outer face of the
western breakwater; and erosion of the beach has occurred at the shore
end of the eastern breakwater, cutting it off from the land. The
advance of the shore-line, however, has been much slower during recent
years; and though the progress seawards of the lines of soundings
close to and in front of the harbour continues, the advance is checked
by the sand and silt coming from the west passing through some
apertures purposely left in the western breakwater, and falling into
the approach channel, from which it is readily dredged and taken away.
Madras harbour, begun in 1875, consists of two breakwaters, 3000 ft.
apart, carried straight out to sea at right angles to the shore for
3000 ft., and completed by two return arms inclined slightly
seawards, enclosing an area of 220 acres and leaving a central
entrance, 550 ft. wide, facing the Indian Ocean in a depth of about 8
fathoms. The great drift, however, of sand along the coast from south
to north soon produced an advance of the shore against the outside of
the south breakwater, and erosion beyond the north breakwater; and the
progression of the foreshore has extended so far seawards as to
produce shoaling at the entrance. Accordingly, the closing of the
entrance, and the formation of a new entrance through the outer part
of the main north breakwater, facing north and sheltered by an arm
starting from the angle of the northern return arm and running north
parallel to the shore, round the end of which vessels would turn to
enter, have been recommended, to provide a deep entrance beyond the
influence of the advancing foreshore.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Sunderland Harbour.]
Proposals have been made from time to time to evade this advance of
the foreshore against a solid obstacle, by extending an open viaduct
across the zone of littoral drift, and forming a closed harbour, or a
sheltering breakwater against which vessels can lie, beyond the
influence of accretion. This principle was carried out on a large
scale at the port of call and sheltering breakwater constructed in
front of the entrance to the Bruges ship-canal, at Zeebrugge on the
sandy North Sea coast, where a solid breakwater, provided with a wide
quay furnished with sidings and sheds, and curving round so as to
overlap thoroughly the entrance to the canal and shelter a certain
water-area, is approached by an open metal viaduct extending out 1007
ft. from low water into a depth of 20 ft. (fig. 7). It is hoped that
by thus avoiding interference with the littoral drift close to the
shore, coming mainly from the west, the accumulation of silt to the
west of the harbour, and also in the harbour itself, will be
prevented; and though it appears probable that some accretion will
occur within the area sheltered by the breakwater, it will to some
extent be disturbed by the wash of the steamers approaching and
leaving the quays, and can readily be removed under shelter by
dredging.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Zeebrugge Harbour.]
_Entrances to Harbours._--Though captains of vessels always wish for
wide entrances to harbours as affording greater facility of safe
access, it is important to keep the width as narrow as practicable,
consistent with easy access, to exclude waves and swell as much as
possible and secure tranquillity inside. At Madras, the width of 550
ft. proved excessive for the great exposure of the entrance, and
moderate size of the harbour, which does not allow of the adequate
expansion of the entering swell. Where an adequately easy and safe
approach can be secured, it is advantageous to make the entrance face
a somewhat sheltered quarter by the overlapping of the end of one of
the breakwaters, as accomplished at Bilbao and Genoa harbours (fig.
3), and at the southern entrance to Dover harbour. Occasionally, owing
to the comparative shelter afforded by a bend in the adjacent
coast-line, a very wide entrance can be left between a breakwater and
the shore; typical examples are furnished by the former open northern
entrance to Portland harbour, now closed against torpedoes, and the
wide entrances at Holyhead and Zeebrugge (fig. 7). With a large
harbour and the adoption of a detached breakwater, it is possible to
gain the advantage of two entrances facing different quarters, as
effected at Dover and Colombo, which enables vessels to select their
entrance according to the state of the wind and weather; where there
is a large tidal rise they reduce the current through the entrances,
and they may, under favourable conditions, create a circulation of the
water in the harbour, tending to check the deposit of silt.
(L. F. V.-*H.)
HARBURG, a seaport town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Hanover,
on the left bank of the southern arm of the Elbe, 6 m. by rail S. of
Hamburg. Pop. (1885), 26,320; (1905)--the area of the town having been
increased since 1895--55,676. It is pleasantly situated at the foot of a
lofty range of hills, which here dip down to the river, at the junction
of the main lines of railway from Bremen and Hanover to Hamburg, which
are carried to the latter city over two grand bridges crossing the
southern and the northern arms of the Elbe. It possesses a Roman
Catholic and two Protestant churches, a palace, which from 1524 to 1642
was the residence of the Harburg line of the house of Brunswick, a
high-grade modern school, a commercial school and a theatre. The leading
industries are the crushing of palm-kernels and linseed and the
manufacture of india-rubber, phosphates, starch, nitrate and jute.
Machines are manufactured here; beer is brewed, and shipbuilding is
carried on. The port is accessible to vessels drawing 18 ft. of water,
and, despite its proximity to Hamburg, its trade has of late years shown
a remarkable development. It is the chief mart in the empire for resin
and palm-oil. The Prussian government proposes establishing here a free
port, on the lines of the _Freihafen_ in Hamburg.
Harburg belonged originally to the bishopric of Bremen, and received
municipal rights in 1297. In 1376 it was united to the principality of
Luneburg, along with which it fell in 1705 to Hanover, and in 1806 to
Prussia. In 1813 and 1814 it suffered considerably from the French, who
then held Hamburg, and who built a bridge between the two towns, which
remained standing till 1816.
See Ludewig, _Geschichte des Schlosses und der Stadt Harburg_
(Harburg, 1845); and Hoffmeyer, _Harburg und die nachste Umgegend_
(1885).
HARCOURT, a village in Normandy, now a commune in the department of
Eure, arrondissement of Bernay and canton of Brionne, which gives its
name to a noble family distinguished in French history, a branch of
which was early established in England. Of the lords of Harcourt, whose
genealogy can be traced back to the 11th century, the first to
distinguish himself was Jean II. (d. 1302) who was marshal and admiral
of France. Godefroi d'Harcourt, seigneur of Saint Sauveur le Vicomte,
surnamed "Le boiteux" (the lame), was a marshal in the English army and
was killed near Coutances in 1356. The fief of Harcourt was raised to
the rank of a countship by Philip of Valois, in favour of Jean IV., who
was killed at the battle of Crecy (1346). His son, Jean V. (d. 1355)
married Blanche, heiress of Jean II., count of Aumale, and the countship
of Harcourt passed with that of Aumale until, in 1424, Jean VIII., count
of Aumale and Mortain and lieutenant-general of Normandy, was killed at
the battle of Verneuil, and with him the elder branch became extinct in
the male line. The heiress, Marie, by her marriage with Anthony of
Lorraine, count of Vaudemont, brought the countship of Harcourt into the
house of Lorraine. The title of count of Harcourt was borne by several
princes of this house. The most famous instance was Henry of Lorraine,
count of Harcourt, Brionne, and Armagnac, and nicknamed "Cadet la perle"
(1601-1666). He distinguished himself in several campaigns against
Spain, and later played an active part in the civil wars of the Fronde.
He took the side of the princes, and fought against the government in
Alsace; but was defeated by Marshal de la Ferte, and made his submission
in 1654.
The most distinguished among the younger branches of the family are
those of Montgomery and of Beuvron. To the former belonged Jean
d'Harcourt, bishop of Amiens and Tournai, archbishop of Narbonne and
patriarch of Antioch, who died in 1452; and Guillaume d'Harcourt, count
of Tancarville, and viscount of Melun, who was head of the
administration of the woods and forests in the royal domain (_souverain
maitre et reformateur des eaux et forets de France_) and died in 1487.
From the branch of the marquises of Beuvron sprang Henri d'Harcourt,
marshal of France, and ambassador at the Spanish court, who was made
duke of Harcourt (1700) and a peer of France (1709); also Francois
Eugene Gabriel, count, and afterwards duke, of Harcourt, who was
ambassador first in Spain, and later at Rome, and died in 1865. This
branch of the family is still in existence.
See G. A. de la Rogne, _Histoire genealogique de la maison d'Harcourt_
(4 vols., Paris, 1662); P. Anselme, _Histoire genealogique de la
maison de France_, v. 114, &c.; and Dom le Noir, _Preuves
genealogiques et historiques de la maison de Harcourt_ (Paris, 1907).
(M. P.*)
HARCOURT, SIMON HARCOURT, 1ST VISCOUNT (c. 1661-1727), lord chancellor
of England, only son of Sir Philip Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt,
Oxfordshire, by his first wife, Anne, daughter of Sir William Waller,
was born about 1661 at Stanton Harcourt, and was educated at a school at
Shilton, Oxfordshire, and at Pembroke College, Oxford. He was called to
the bar in 1683, and soon afterwards was appointed recorder of Abingdon,
which borough he represented as a Tory in parliament from 1690 to 1705.
In 1701 he was nominated by the Commons to conduct the impeachment of
Lord Somers; and in 1702 he became solicitor-general and was knighted by
Queen Anne. He was elected member for Bossiney in 1705, and as
commissioner for arranging the union with Scotland was largely
instrumental in promoting that measure. Harcourt was appointed
attorney-general in 1707, but resigned office in the following year when
his friend Robert Harley, afterwards earl of Oxford, was dismissed. He
defended Sacheverell at the bar of the House of Lords in 1710, being
then without a seat in parliament; but in the same year was returned for
Cardigan, and in September again became attorney-general. In October he
was appointed lord keeper of the great seal, and in virtue of this
office he presided in the House of Lords for some months without a
peerage, until, on the 3rd of September 1711, he was created Baron
Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt; but it was not till April 1713 that he
received the appointment of lord chancellor. In 1710 he had purchased
the Nuneham-Courtney estate in Oxfordshire, but his usual place of
residence continued to be at Cokethorpe near Stanton Harcourt, where he
received a visit in state from Queen Anne. In the negotiations preceding
the peace of Utrecht, Harcourt took an important part. There is no
sufficient evidence for the allegations of the Whigs that Harcourt
entered into treasonable relations with the Pretender. On the accession
of George I. he was deprived of office and retired to Cokethorpe, where
he enjoyed the society of men of letters, Swift, Pope, Prior and other
famous writers being among his frequent guests. With Swift, however, he
had occasional quarrels, during one of which the great satirist bestowed
on him the sobriquet of "Trimming Harcourt." He exerted himself to
defeat the impeachment of Lord Oxford in 1717, and in 1723 he was active
in obtaining a pardon for another old political friend, Lord
Bolingbroke. In 1721 Harcourt was created a viscount and returned to the
privy councils; and on several occasions during the king's absences from
England he was on the council of regency. He died in London on the 23rd
of July 1727. Harcourt was not a great lawyer, but he enjoyed the
reputation of being a brilliant orator; Speaker Onslow going so far as
to say that Harcourt "had the greatest skill and power of speech of any
man I ever knew in a public assembly." He was a member of the famous
Saturday Club, frequented by the chief _literati_ and wits of the
period, with several of whom he corresponded. Some letters to him from
Pope are preserved in the _Harcourt Papers_. His portrait by Kneller is
at Nuneham.
Harcourt married, first, Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Clark, his father's
chaplain, by whom he had five children; secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of
Richard Spencer; and thirdly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Vernon.
He left issue by his first wife only. His son, Simon (1684-1720),
married Elizabeth, sister of Sir John Evelyn of Wotton, by whom he had
one son and four daughters, one of whom married George Venables Vernon,
afterwards Lord Vernon (see HARCOURT, SIR WILLIAM--footnote). Simon
Harcourt predeceased his father, the lord chancellor, in 1720, leaving a
son SIMON HARCOURT (1714-1777), 1st Earl Harcourt, who succeeded his
grandfather in the title of viscount in 1727. He was educated at
Westminster school. In 1745, having raised a regiment, he received a
commission as a colonel in the army; and in 1749 he was created Earl
Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt. He was appointed governor to the prince of
Wales, afterwards George III., in 1751; and after the accession of the
latter to the throne he was appointed, in 1761, special ambassador to
Mecklenburg-Strelitz to negotiate a marriage between King George and the
princess Charlotte, whom he conducted to England. After holding a number
of appointments at court and in the diplomatic service, he was promoted
to the rank of general in 1772; and in October of the same year he
succeeded Lord Townsend as lord lieutenant of Ireland, an office which
he held till 1777. His proposal to impose a tax of 10% on the rents of
absentee landlords had to be abandoned owing to opposition in England;
but he succeeded in conciliating the leaders of Opposition in Ireland,
and he persuaded Henry Flood to accept office in the government.
Resigning in January 1777, he retired to Nuneham, where he died in the
following September. He married, in 1735, Rebecca, daughter and heiress
of Charles Samborne Le Bas, of Pipewell Abbey, Northamptonshire, by whom
he had two daughters and two sons, George Simon and William, who
succeeded him as 2nd and 3rd earl respectively.
See Lord Campbell, _Lives of the Lord Chancellors_, vol. v. (London,
1846); Edward Foss, _The Judges of England_, vol. viii. (London,
1848); Gilbert Burnet, _Hist. of his own Time_ (with notes by earls of
Dartmouth and Hardwicke, &c., Oxford, 1833); Earl Stanhope, _Hist. of
England, comprising the reign of Queen Anne until the Peace of
Utrecht_ (London, 1870). In addition to the above-mentioned
authorities many particulars concerning the 1st Viscount Harcourt, and
also of his grandson, the 1st earl, will be found in the _Harcourt
Papers_. For the earl, see also Horace Walpole, _Memoirs of the Reign
of George II._ (3 vols., 2nd ed., London, 1847), _Memoirs of the Reign
of George III._ (4 vols., London, 1845, 1894); also, for his
vice-royalty of Ireland, see Henry Grattan, _Memoirs of the Life and
Times of the Right Hon. H. Grattan_ (5 vols., London, 1839-1846);
Francis Hardy, _Memoirs of J. Caulfield, Earl of Charlemont_ (2 vols.,
London, 1812); and for his genealogy, see Sir John Bernard Burke,
_Genealogical History of Dormant and Extinct Peerages_ (London, 1883).
(R. J. M.)
HARCOURT, SIR WILLIAM GEORGE GRANVILLE VENABLES VERNON (1827-1904).
English statesman, second son of the Rev. Canon William Vernon Harcourt
(q.v.), of Nuneham Park, Oxford, was born on the 14th of October 1827.
Canon Harcourt was the fourth son and eventually heir of Edward Harcourt
(1757-1847), archbishop of York, who was the son of the 1st Lord Vernon
(d. 1780), and who took the name of Harcourt alone instead of Vernon on
succeeding to the property of his cousin, the last Earl Harcourt, in
1831.[1] The subject of this biography was therefore born a Vernon, and
by his connexion with the old families of Vernon and Harcourt was
related to many of the great English houses, a fact which gave him no
little pride. Indeed, in later life his descent from the Plantagenets[2]
was a subject of some banter on the part of his political opponents. He
was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with first-class
honours in the classical tripos in 1851. He was called to the bar in
1854, became a Q.C. in 1866, and was appointed Whewell professor of
international law, Cambridge, 1869. He quickly made his mark in London
society as a brilliant talker; he contributed largely to the _Saturday
Review_, and wrote some famous letters (1862) to _The Times_ over the
signature of "Historicus," in opposition to the recognition of the
Southern States as belligerents in the American Civil War. He entered
parliament as Liberal member for Oxford, and sat from 1868 to 1880,
when, upon seeking re-election after acceptance of office, he was
defeated by Mr Hall. A seat was, however, found for him at Derby, by the
voluntary retirement of Mr Plimsoll, and he continued to represent that
constituency until 1895, when, having been defeated at the general
election, he found a seat in West Monmouthshire. He was appointed
solicitor-general and knighted in 1873; and, although he had not shown
himself a very strenuous supporter of Mr Gladstone during that
statesman's exclusion from power, he became secretary of state for the
home department on the return of the Liberals to office in 1880. His
name was connected at that time with the passing of the Ground Game Act
(1880), the Arms (Ireland) Act (1881), and the Explosives Act (1883). As
home secretary at the time of the dynamite outrages he had to take up a
firm attitude, and the Explosives Act was passed through all its stages
in the shortest time on record. Moreover, as champion of law and order
against the attacks of the Parnellites, his vigorous speeches brought
him constantly into conflict with the Irish members. In 1884 he
introduced an abortive bill for unifying the municipal administration of
London. He was indeed at that time recognized as one of the ablest and
most effective leaders of the Liberal party; and when, after a brief
interval in 1885, Mr Gladstone returned to office in 1886, he was made
chancellor of the exchequer, an office which he again filled from 1892
to 1895.
Between 1880 and 1892 Sir William Harcourt acted as Mr Gladstone's loyal
and indefatigable lieutenant in political life. A first-rate party
fighter, his services were of inestimable value; but in spite of his
great success as a platform speaker, he was generally felt to be
speaking from an advocate's brief, and did not impress the country as
possessing much depth of conviction. It was he who coined the phrase
about "stewing in Parnellite juice," and, when the split came in the
Liberal party on the Irish question, even those who gave Mr Gladstone
and Mr Morley the credit of being convinced Home Rulers could not be
persuaded that Sir William had followed anything but the line of party
expediency. In 1894 he introduced and carried a memorable budget, which
equalized the death duties on real and personal property. After Mr
Gladstone's retirement in 1894 and Lord Rosebery's selection as prime
minister Sir William became the leader of the Liberal party in the House
of Commons, but it was never probable that he would work comfortably in
the new conditions. His title to be regarded as Mr Gladstone's successor
had been too lightly ignored, and from the first it was evident that
Lord Rosebery's ideas of Liberalism and of the policy of the Liberal
party were not those of Sir William Harcourt. Their differences were
patched up from time to time, but the combination could not last. At
the general election of 1895 it was clear that there were divisions as
to what issue the Liberals were fighting for, and the effect of Sir
William Harcourt's abortive Local Veto Bill on the election was seen not
only in his defeat at Derby, which gave the signal for the Liberal rout,
but in the set-back it gave to temperance legislation. Though returned
for West Monmouthshire (1895, 1900), his speeches in debate only
occasionally showed his characteristic spirit, and it was evident that
for the hard work of Opposition he no longer had the same motive as of
old. In December 1898 the crisis arrived, and with Mr John Morley he
definitely retired from the counsels of the party and resigned his
leadership of the Opposition, alleging as his reason, in letters
exchanged between Mr Morley and himself, the cross-currents of opinion
among his old supporters and former colleagues. The split excited
considerable comment, and resulted in much heart-burning and a more or
less open division between the section of the Liberal party following
Lord Rosebery (q.v.) and those who disliked that statesman's
Imperialistic views.
Though now a private member, Sir William Harcourt still continued to
vindicate his opinions in his independent position, and his attacks on
the government were no longer restrained by even the semblance of
deference to Liberal Imperialism. He actively intervened in 1899 and
1900, strongly condemning the government's financial policy and their
attitude towards the Transvaal; and throughout the Boer War he lost no
opportunity of criticizing the South African developments in a
pessimistic vein. One of the readiest parliamentary debaters, he
savoured his speeches with humour of that broad and familiar order which
appeals particularly to political audiences. In 1898-1900 he was
conspicuous, both on the platform and in letters written to The _Times_,
in demanding active measures against the Ritualistic party in the Church
of England; but his attitude on that subject could not be dissociated
from his political advocacy of Disestablishment. In March 1904, just
after he had announced his intention not to seek election again to
parliament, he succeeded, by the death of his nephew, to the family
estates at Nuneham. But he died suddenly there on the 1st of October in
the same year. He married, first, in 1859, Therese (d. 1863), daughter
of Mr T. H. Lister, by whom he had one son, Lewis Vernon Harcourt (b.
1863), afterwards first commissioner of works both in Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman's 1905 ministry (included in the cabinet in 1907) and
in Mr Asquith's cabinet (1908); and secondly, in 1876, Elizabeth, widow
of Mr T. Ives and daughter of Mr. J. L. Motley, the historian, by whom
he had another son, Robert (b. 1878).
Sir William Harcourt was one of the great parliamentary figures of the
Gladstonian Liberal period. He was essentially an aristocratic type of
late 19th century Whig, with a remarkable capacity for popular campaign
fighting. He had been, and remained, a brilliant journalist in the
non-professional sense. He was one of those who really made the
_Saturday Review_ in its palmy days, and in the period of his own most
ebullient vigour, while Mr Gladstone was alive, his sense of political
expediency and platform effectiveness in controversy was very acute. But
though he played the game of public life with keen zest, he never really
touched either the country or his own party with the faith which creates
a personal following, and in later years he found himself somewhat
isolated and disappointed, though he was free to express his deeper
objections to the new developments in church and state. A tall, fine
man, with the grand manner, he was, throughout a long career, a great
personality in the life of his time. (H. Ch.)