The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 230

HALBERSTADT (37), an interesting old town in Prussian Saxony, 30 m.

SW. of Magdeburg; the 13th-century cathedral is a fine specimen of Pointed Gothic, and the Church of Our Lady, a 12th-century structure, is in the Byzantine style; its industries embrace gloves, cigars, machines, sugar, &c.

HALCYON DAYS, days of peace, happiness, and prosperity, properly the seven days before and the seven after the winter Solstice, days of quiet, during which the halcyon, or kingfisher, is fabled to be breeding.

HALDANE, ROBERT, born in London, and JAMES, born in Dundee, brothers; entered the English navy, and after distinguis.h.i.+ng themselves in it, left the service, and devoted their time and their wealth to evangelistic labours and the building of "tabernacles," as they were called, for religious wors.h.i.+p in connection eventually with the Baptist body; they both contributed to theological literature in the Calvinistic interest; Robert died in 1842, being born in 1764, and James in 1851, being born in 1766.

HALE, SIR MATTHEW, Lord Chief-Justice of England, born at Alderley, Gloucesters.h.i.+re: in 1629 he entered Lincoln's Inn after some years of roving and dissipation, and eight years later was called to the bar; as he held aloof from the strife between king and commons, his service as advocate were in requisition by both parties, and in 1653 he was raised to the bench by Cromwell; on the death of the Protector he declined to receive his commission anew from Richard Cromwell, and favoured the return of Charles; after the Restoration he was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer and knighted; in 1671 he was created Lord Chief-Justice; charges of "tr.i.m.m.i.n.g" have been made against him, but his integrity as a lawyer has never been impugned (1609-1676).

HALES, ALEXANDER OF, a scholastic philosopher, surnamed "Doctor Irrefragabilis," who flourished in the 15th century; author of "Summa Theologiae."

HALES, JOHN, the "Ever-memorable," canon of Windsor; a most scholarly man, liberal-minded and highly cultured; was professor of Greek at Oxford; suffered great hards.h.i.+ps under the Puritan supremacy (1584-1656).

HALES, STEPHEN, scientist, born at Beckesbourn, Kent; became a Fellow of Cambridge in 1702; took holy orders, and in 1710 settled down in the curacy of Teddington, Middles.e.x; science was his ruling pa.s.sion, and his "Vegetable Staticks" is the first work to broach a true morphology of plants; his papers on Ventilation led to a wide-spread reform in prison ventilation, and his method of collecting gases greatly furthered the work of subsequent chemists (1677-1761).

HALeVY, JACQUES FRANcOIS ELIAS, a French operatic composer, born at Paris; became a professor at the Conservatoire; wrote a large number of operas, of which "La Juive" and "L'eclair" were the best, and enjoyed a European reputation (1799-1862).

HALeVY, JOSEPH, French Orientalist and traveller, born at Adrianople; his most notable work was done in Yemen, which he crossed during 1869-70 in search of Sabaean inscriptions, no European having traversed that land since A.D. 24; the result was a most valuable collection of 800 inscriptions, &c.; his works are numerous, and deal with various branches of Oriental study; _b_. 1827.

HALIBURTON, THOMAS CHANDLER, Nova Scotian judge and author, born at Windsor, Nova Scotia; was called to the bar in 1820, and soon after was elected a member of the House of a.s.sembly; in 1840 he became Judge of the Supreme Court, and two years later retired to England, where, in 1869, he entered Parliament; he wrote several books bearing on Nova Scotia and aspects of colonial life, but is best known as the author of "Sam Slick,"

Yankee clockmaker, peripatetic philosopher, wit, and dispenser of "soft sawder" (1796-1865).

HALICARNa.s.sUS, a Greek city, and the chief of Caria, in Asia Minor, on the sea-coast opposite the island of Cos, the birthplace of Herodotus; celebrated for the tomb of Mausolus, called the MAUSOLEUM (q. v.).

HALIDON HILL, an eminence in Northumberland, on the Tweed, 2 m. from Berwick, the scene of a b.l.o.o.d.y battle in 1333 between the English and Scots, to the defeat of the latter.

HALIFAX, 1, a prosperous manufacturing town (90), in the West Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re, situated amid surrounding hills on the Hebble, 43 m. SW. of York; the staple industries are carpet and worsted manufacturing, the carpet works being the largest in the world; cotton, merinos, and damasks are also woven and dyed. 2, capital (39), of Nova Scotia; the naval and military head-quarters of the British in North America, and the chief port in East Canada; is situated near the head of Chebucto Bay, which forms a magnificent harbour; a citadel and masked batteries defend the town; it is an important railway and s.h.i.+pping terminus and coaling station; its gravingdock is the largest in America; it is the seat of Dalhousie University.

HALIFAX, CHARLES MONTAGUE, EARL OF, a celebrated Whig statesman, born at Horton, Northamptons.h.i.+re; a clever skit on Dryden's "Hind and Panther," ent.i.tled "The Town and Country Mouse," written in collaboration with Prior after he had left Cambridge, brought him some reputation as a wit; in 1688 he entered the Convention Parliament, and attached himself to William's party, when his remarkable financial ability soon brought him to the front; in 1692 he brought forward his scheme for a National Debt, and two years later founded the Bank of England in accordance with the scheme of William Paterson; in the same year he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in 1697 Prime Minister; in conjunction with Sir Isaac Newton, Master of the Mint, he carried through a re-coinage, and was the first to introduce Exchequer Bills; in 1699 he was created a Baron, and subsequently was made the victim of a prolonged and embittered but unsuccessful impeachment; with the accession of George I. he came back to power as Prime Minister, and received an earldom (1661-1715).

HALIFAX, GEORGE SAVILLE, MARQUIS OF, a noted statesman who played a prominent part in the changing politics of Charles II.'s and James II.'s reigns, and whose apparently vacillating conduct won him the epithet of "Trimmer"; he was an orator of brilliant powers and imbued with patriotic motives, and through his various changes may be seen a real desire to serve the cause of civil and religious liberty, but he was never a reliable party man; on the abdication of James II. he, as President of the Convention Parliament, proffered the crown to William of Orange; he rose through successive t.i.tles to be a marquis in 1682; his writings, chief of which is "Character of a Trimmer" (practically a defence of his own life), are marked by a pungent wit and graceful persuasiveness (about 1630-1695).

HALL, BASIL, explorer and miscellaneous writer, born in Edinburgh, son of Sir James Hall of Dungla.s.s, a noted chemist and geologist; rose to be a post-captain in the navy, and in 1816 made a voyage of discovery on the coast of the Corea and the Great Loo Choo Islands, his account of which forms a fascinating and highly popular book of travel; during 1820-22 he commanded the _Conway_ on the W. coast of South America, and his published journals covering that period of Spain's struggle with her colonies are of considerable historical value; "Travels in North America in 1827-28" is an entertaining record of travel; was also author of some tales, &c.; he died insane (1788-1844).

HALL, CHARLES FRANCIS, Arctic explorer, born at Rochester, New Hamps.h.i.+re; the mystery surrounding Franklin's fate awakened his interest in Arctic exploration, and during 1860-62 he headed a search party, and again in 1864-69; during the latter time he lived amongst the Eskimo, and returned with many interesting relics of Franklin's ill-fated expedition; in 1871 he made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole, and died at Thank G.o.d Harbour in Greenland; he published accounts of his expeditions (1821-1871).

HALL or HALLE, EDWARD, English lawyer and historian, born in London; studied law at Gray's Inn; in 1540 he became one of the judges of the Sheriff's Court; his fame rests on his history "The Union of the Two n.o.ble Families of Lancaster and Yorke," a work which sheds a flood of light on contemporary events, and is, moreover, a n.o.ble specimen of English prose (1499-1547).

HALL, JOSEPH, bishop first of Exeter and then of Norwich, born at Ashby-de-la-Zouch; was accused of favouring Puritanism, and incurred the enmity of Laud; was sent to the Tower for joining 12 prelates who had protested against certain laws pa.s.sed in Parliament during their enforced absence from the House; being released on bail, be returned to Norwich, and was persecuted by the Puritans, who plundered his house and spoiled the cathedral; was the author of a set of political satires and of "Meditations," early instances in English literature of an interest in biography (1574-1656).

HALL, ROBERT, an eminent Baptist minister and pulpit orator, born near Leicester; began his ministry in Bristol, and ended it there after a pastorate in Cambridge; was an intimate friend of Sir James Mackintosh (1764-1831).

HALL, SAMUEL CARTER, founder and editor of the _Art Journal_, born at Geneva Barracks, co. Waterford; was for a time a gallery reporter; succeeded Campbell, the poet, as editor of the _New Monthly Magazine_, and after other journalistic work started in 1839 the well-known periodical the _Art Journal_, which he continued to edit for upwards of 40 years; in 1880 he received a civil-list pension (1800-1889); his wife, ANNA MARIA FIELDING, was in her day a popular and voluminous writer of novels and short tales (1800-1881).

HALLAM, ARTHUR HENRY, eldest son of the succeeding, the early friend of Tennyson, who died suddenly at Vienna to the bitter grief of his father and of his friend, whose "In Memoriam" is a long elegy over his loss (1811-1838).

HALLAM, HENRY, English historian, born at Windsor, of which his father was a canon; bred for the bar; was one of the first contributors to the _Edinburgh Review_; was the author of three great works, "The State of Europe during the Middle Ages," published in 1818; "The Const.i.tutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II.," published in 1827; and the "Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries," published in 1838; "was the first," says Stopford Brooke, "to write history in this country without prejudice" (1777-1859).

HALLE (101), a flouris.h.i.+ng city in Prussian Saxony, on the Saale, 20 m. NW. of Leipzig; has a splendid university attended by upwards of 1500 students, and a library of 220,000 vols.; some fine old Gothic churches, medical inst.i.tutes, hospitals, &c.; it is is an important railway centre, and is famed for its salt-works.

HALLe, SIR CHARLES, an eminent pianist, born at Hagen, in Westphalia; in 1848 he came to England, with a reputation already gained at Paris, and settled down in Manchester; his fine orchestra, which from year to year visited the important cities of the kingdom, did a great work in popularising cla.s.sical music, and educating the public taste in its regard; in 1888 he was knighted (1819-1895). His wife, _nee_ Wilhelmine Neruda, a violinist of rare talent, born at Brunn, in Moravia, appeared first in Vienna when only seven years old; in 1864 she married Normann, a Swedish composer, and in 1885 became the wife of Sir Charles; _b_. 1839.

HALLECK, HENRY WAGER, an American general; distinguished himself on the side of the North in the Civil War, and was promoted to be commander-in-chief; was author of "Elements of Military Art and Science"

(1815-1873).

HALLEL, name given to Psalms cxiii.-cxviii. chanted by the Jews at their great annual festivals.

HALLER, ALBERT VON, a celebrated anatomist, physiologist, botanist, physician, and poet, born at Bern; professor of Medicine at Gottingen; author of works in all these departments; took a keen interest in all the movements and questions of the day, literary and political, as well as scientific; was a voluminous author and writer (1708-1777).

HALLEY, EDMUND, astronomer and mathematician, born near London; determined the rotation of the sun from the spots on its surface, and the position of 350 stars; discovered in 1680 the great comet called after his name, which appeared again in 1825; was entrusted with the publication of his "Principia" by Sir Isaac Newton; made researches on the orbits of comets, and was appointed in 1719 astronomer-royal (1656-1742).

HALLIWELL-PHILLIPPS, JAMES ORCHARD, a celebrated Shakespearian scholar and antiquary, born at Chelsea; studied at Cambridge; his love for literary antiquities manifested itself at an early age, and his research in ballad literature and folk-lore, &c., had gained him election as Fellow to the Royal and Antiquarian Societies at the early age of 19; devoting himself more particularly to Shakespeare, he in 1848 published his famous "Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare," which has grown in fulness of detail with successive editions, and remains the most authoritative account of Shakespeare's life we have; his "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words" is also a work of wide scholars.h.i.+p; having succeeded in 1872 to the property of his father-in-law, Thomas Phillipps, he added Phillipps to his own surname (1820-1889).

HALL-MARK, an official mark or attestation of the genuineness of gold and silver articles.

HALLOWED FIRE, an expression of Carlyle's in definition of Christianity "at its rise and spread" as sacred, and kindling what was sacred and divine in man's soul, and burning up all that was not.