History

[Fr. his to ire; Gr. hist or i a, from his to reo, I inquire. Literally, an account of facts. The word was first used by Hero dot us, who calls his work by the title Hist or i a; and there can be but little doubt that this ancient writer fixed the sense in which the word has since been applied; that is, as meaning the science which treats of man, in all his social relations, religious, moral, commercial, political, or literary, as far as these are the result of general influences extending to large ma es of men. Embracing both the past and the present, history consequently considers everything which acts upon men, - regarding them in the light of members of society. It should clearly represent the relations in which man exists towards his brother men, and should detail the influences to which he is subjected, the motives by which he is actuated, and the inferences drawn from the same, with clearne and truth. According to some commentaries, H. may be either considered in the light of an intellectual exercise in the department of human knowledge or science, or as a form of literary composition. Bacon reckoned it as the chief component part of learning, and studied it in its relations to memory, while he placed philosophy and poetry below it, as appealing only to the understanding and imagination. It is therefore the busine of H. to record or remember the events, past and present, of the world, and to place them down in such a way that they can have the best hold on the memory, by appealing to other facts for their support and corroboration. This is the true definition of the word used by Hero dot us, although it has been analogically used to expre other branches of investigation, as in the term natural H., still in use; and some of the ancient writers defined the general use of the word by their adaptation of it; as, Aristotle's H. of Animals, and Theophrastus' H. of Plants. The civil H. of man has been somewhat arbitrarily subdivided into several branches; as, civil or biblical H. (the H. of states and empires), ecclesiastical H. (the H. of the Christian Church), sacred H. (the historical part of the Scriptures), profane H. (or H. written by uninspired authors). Our most ancient civil H. is found in the Old Testament; but its objects are confined, as it is written more as a chronicle of the acts of the Jewish race than a general description of other nations, who were also connected with them in relations of amity or war. Of As syria, Egypt, Phanicia, and ancient Persia, Carthage, ., we po e no historical notice, except such as is derived: -1. From Jewish or cla ical authors; 2. From monuments, especially in Egypt. With respect to Persia, much industry has been expended in endeavoring to extract from the histories of modern native writers coincidences with the narrations of Greek and Roman authors; and the recent discoveries of Layard, Rawlinson, and others are thought to have thrown much light on this branch of our subject, though their full value is not as yet determined. The poems of Homer are generally regarded as containing the oldest fragments of Grecian H.; but from these we can infer little more than the existence of certain towns, or the prevalence of certain customs, at the time in which the poems were composed. An examination of the Trojan legend with the mythology of other portions of the Aryan race, has shown that there is no real ground for theories which connect the war of Troy with the movements of Hellenic colonists in W. Asia, or with any other political causes. Hero dot us is the oldest Greek prose writer. His invaluable H. comprises a description of several countries bordering on Greece and the Mediterranean, concise narratives of Egyptian, Persian, and A yrian H., and a connected account, more or le detailed according to circumstances, of the H. of Greece, both civil and domestic, for about 50 years previous to the invasion of Xerxes, with which his annals close (B.C. about 480). The H. of the Grecian commonwealth is pursued in detail by Thucydides and Xenophon for about a century afterwards. After that period, our knowledge of Greek domestic H. is confined to the inc i dental notices derived from contemporary writers and the general compilations of later historians, varying greatly in trustworthine and authority. Among these may be mentioned, as authors from whom a large portion of our actual knowledge is derived, Diodorus Siculus,, the author of a very miscellaneous general H. , of which great part is lost, who lived about the age of August us; Polybius, whose H. is more especially devoted to Roman affairs; Arrian and Quintius Curtius, the historians of the conquests of Alexander; Livy, as to the transactions between Greece and Rome; Justin, the compiler of a brief but useful abridgment of general H .; Plutarch, in his Lives of Illustrious Men, . These writers bring the student down to the period of the subjugation of Greece by Rome, after which all H. of Greek affairs, properly so called, terminates, until the establishment of what is known as the Eastern Empire; and we have little knowledge of the state of Greece and the GræcoAsiatic kingdoms in their provincial state. Ancient Roman H. , down to the first Punic war, is chiefly known from the compilations of Livy and Dionysius of Halicarna us, writers whose credit is rendered extremely doubtful by modern investigation, and, where these fail, from incidental sources. In the H. of the Punic wars, the narrative of Livy is aided by the admirable work of Polybius. From the end of the second Punic war to the dictatorship of Sulla, nearly 150 years, our materials for Roman H. are very deficient, the want of contemporary writers being supplied only by later compilations, and by the incidental knowledge derived from writers on various subjects, the course of whose composition led them to touch on past events, of whom the most valuable is Cicero. From the period of Sulla's dictatorship to the acce ion of Vespas i an, nearly 150 years, we have the advantage of a succe ion of contemporary writers, some of them actors in the events which they describe, and comprising some of the greatest names in literature - Sallust, Cicero, Cæsar, Velleius, Paterculus, Tacitus. Yet even here there is one considerable lacuna , comprising the last thirty years of the reign of August us, as to which our knowledge is scanty. From the acce ion of Vespas i an to the reign of Const an tine, a long period elapses, during which our historical acquaintance with the events of an empire then comprising the greater part of the civilized world is vague and defective. Dion Ca ius and Herodian are the two best writers on H. who can be named in this long interval. The latter, during the short epoch which he illustrates as a contemporary, is full and valuable. After the acce ion of Const an tine, we have abundant materials for H. , both ecclesiastical and civil, from the hand of contemporary authors, down to the reign of Just in i an in the East and of Theodoric in the West, although the quality of the writers is sensibly degenerated. Perhaps the comparative obscurity and uncertainty into which H. is plunged after the last of these two epochs, and the absence of all standard writers after Procopius, render it the best period to fix upon for the arbitrary limit between ancient and modern H. It will be seen from this brief summary, that the only periods of any extent as to which we have the a istance of contemporary historians, or original authority properly so called, in the whole extent of cla ical H. , are:-1. As to Greece, from в. с. 500 to B. c. 380; 2, as to Rome, from the dictatorship of Sulla to the acce ion of Vespas i an, B. c. 76 to A. D. 70, and finally the reigns of Const an tine and his succe ors. After the downfall of the Roman Empire, a long series of revolutions in dynasties and nations followed before W. Europe was parcelled out into the several great countries which, notwithstanding all subsequent changes in political limits, have since subsisted as geographical divisions - France, Spain, Britain, Italy, the Scand in avian regions. Another period elapsed before the three great countries of E. Europe (Ru ia, Poland, Hungary), were added as distinct members to the family of European states. From the abdication or deposition of August ulus and the so-called fall of the Roman empire to the revival of literature, a period comprising in round numbers about 11 centuries, our knowledge of the affairs of W. Europe is derived from a series of writers, in each country, who are usually comprehended under the title of chroniclers. A chronicle, or book of annals, is properly a H. , of which the continuous narrative is so interrupted that each year forms a separate section, and events are thus related in nearly strict chronological order. This is a form very commonly adopted by the historians of the dark ages, of whom the greater proportion were monks. But a great many of the histories of the Middle Ages are not even in the forms of chronicles; they have all the requisites which the most fastidious criticism can require of a regular history. The venerable Bede, who wrote in the 9th century, presents us with the first name of true credit and authority among the annalists of England. Of the monkish Latin chroniclers in later times, Matthew Paris is perhaps best entitled to the character of an historian. After the period of the invaluable Saxon chronicle, we have no vernacular English histories worthy of note, with the exception of a few meagre rhyming chronicles, until the revival of letters and discovery of printing. In France, the long collection of native Latin chroniclers presents us with few names of interest after the time of the celebrated Gregory of Tours; but the Crusades called forth, for a short space, an unusual spirit of historical description. When we arrive, however, at the 14th and 15th centuries, we find among the native French historians two authors of great value as intimately acquainted with the events of their own times, Froi art and Philip de Comines. The annals of Italy are to be sought in the pages of a long series of chroni clers, from the 8th century downwards, of whom the Histrionically, adv . In the manner of a stage- player; theatrically; resembling a pantomime. Histrionism, n . Stage-playing; the acts or practices of buffoons or pantomimists. Hit, v. a. [Swed. hitta , to strike, to touch; Dan. hitte , to find, to meet with.] To strike; to touch or reach with a blow, as the mark or object aimed at; to strike or touch, either with or without force. to collide:-preceding on or against. - To meet or fall on by good luck; to succeed by accident; to strike or reach the intended mark, point, or aim. "All human race would fain be wits, And millions mi for one that hits ."-Swift. a bridle. To raise; to hoist; as, to hitch a bale. ( Naut .) To make fast; as, to hitch a rope. -n. A catch; a hook, or anything that holds; hence, an obstacle, hinderance, or impediment; as, there is a bitch in the affair. - Act of catching or holding, as on hook. A check, or sudden halt in locomotion. (Geol.) A small dislocation of a vein or lode. tion. It is also liable to overflow its banks, so that it has been nece ary, in many places, to raise dykes for the defence of the surrounding country. Its length is estimated at abt. 2,000 miles. Hoar, a . [A. S. har .] White, or whitish. -Gray with time or age; hoary. -n. Hoarine ; venerablene . ( Naut .) A knot or noose made in a rope or hawser; as, a clove- hitch , a running- hitch . Hitch cock, CHARLES HENRY, geologist, son of Prof. Edward Hitch cock, born at Amherst, Ma ., Aug. 23, 1836; graduated at Amherst College; A istant Geolo- gist of Vermont (1857-61); State Geologist of Maine (1861-62); and of New Hampshire (1868-72); profe or of Geology at Dart mouth College since 1869; vice- president of the American A ociation (1883). Has written much on geology. Hitch cock, EDWARD, D.D., LL.D., an eminent Ameri- can geologist, B. in Deer field, Ma ., 1793. He succes- sively filled the offices of principal of Deer field Acad- emy, 1815-18; pastor of the Congregational Church at Conway, Ma ., 1821-5; profe or of chemistry and nat- ural history in Amherst College, 1825-45, and president and profe or of natural theology and geology in the same institution, from the latter year to 1854. He was, besides, appointed State geologist of Ma . in 1830, of Hoar'-frost, n. See FREEZING. -Rime; fog or thick mist. (Used in England.) Hoard, (hord,) n. [A. S. hord ; Sax. heord -ärn, a re- pository.] A treasure; a store, stock, or quantity of anything ama ed or laid up; a secret fund; a hidden deposit of anything valuable; as, a hoard of money, a hoard of maxims. [O. Fr. hourde , a palisade.] The name given in some parts of England to the fence or barrier inclosing the space of ground on which builders are at work. New York 1st district in 1836, and of Vermont in 1857. D. 1864. Dr. H. was the author, among other works of high reputation, of Illustrations of Surface Geology (1857); of Elementary Geology (which has pa ed through 25 editions in the U. States, besides 8 in England), and Religion of Geology and its Connected Sciences (1851), which has had an extensive circulation on both sides of the Atlantic. Hitch'in, a town of England, co. Hertford, 16 m. from Bedford; popр . 8,500. Hitch'ing, n. A fastening for horses. Hites'ville, in Illinois, a village and township of Coles co., about 100 miles E.S.E. of the city of Spring. Hithe, Hythe. [A.S. hyde .] A small haven; a port; a landing-place for ve els; used in composition; as, Rother hi the, Queen hi the, Lamb hi the (now Lambeth ), (England.) Hith'er, adv . [A. S. hider or hither ; Goth. hidre ; Icel. hedhra ; Sansk. hin a , this.] To this place; used with verbs signifying motion, and, by implication, to- ward the speaker. To this end, aim, point, topic, result, design, or conclusion; - used argumentatively. (R.) -a. Nearer; towards the side or direction of the person speaking-correlative of farther ; as, the hither side of Hith'ermost, a. Nearest on this side. Hith'erto, adv . To this time; yet; in any time, or every time; until now; in time preceding the present. -To this place, or to any prescribed limit. "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." Job xxxviii. 11. Hith'erward, adv . Hither; toward this place; this way; here. Hitteroe, ( hit'te -ro,) an island on the coast of Dront- heim, in Norway; area , 250 m. Pop . abt. 6,000. Hiv-o'a, the principal island of the Marques as group in the South Pacific Ocean, is about 22 miles long by 10 miles broad. Its northern point is said to be in Lat. 90 34' S., and in Lon. 139° 4' W. Pop . stated at 6.500. Hive, n. [A. S. hyfe , from hiwa , a family; Goth. heiva ; O. Ger. hiwisea ; Sansk. zi , ziv , to dwell.] A swarm of bees; a family of bees belonging to a single hive. -A receptacle for housing bees; a habitation for bees. A company or society ma ed together, or closely united; a place or scene crowded with busy occupants. -v. a. To collect into a hive; to cause to enter a hive, as bees. To contain; to receive, as a habitation or place of deposit; to deposit or lay up for use and enjoyment. "Hiving wisdom with each studious year."-Byron. -v.n. To take shelter together; to reside in a collective body. Hive'-beetle, n . ( Zoël .) See CLERUS. Hive'le , a . Without a hive; deprived of a hive. Hiv'er, n. One who collects bees together to hive. Hives, n. [Scot. See HEAVES.] ( Med .) The CROUP. q.v. Hix'ton, in Wisconsin , a post-township of Jackson co., about 40 m. N. by E. of La Cro e: pop , about 600. Hi'zerville, in New York , a post-village of Oneida co., 110 m. W.N.W. of Albany. H. M., abbreviation of His or Her Majesty. H. M. S., an abbreviation for His or Her Majesty's Ship or Service. Ho, Ho'n, interj . [Lat. ohe ! formed from the sound. An exclamation, equivalent to Hola! Halloo! ahoy! oh! hey! - used to attract attention, or given as a sig- -Stand! stop! hold! be still! cease! - used by wagoners in stopping their horses. (In England, whoa !) "Stand ho speak the word along."-Shaks. Hoag'lin, in Ohio , a thriving post-township of Van Wert county. Hoag's Corner, in New York , a post-village of Rens- selaer co. Pop . (1897) about 350. Ho'ang-ho. [Chin., the yellow river.] A great river of China, and one of the most prominent features in the geography of that vast empire. It rises near Lat. 34° N., Lon. 98° E. Though broad and rapid, it is in many places so shallow as to be untavorable for naviga- Hobbeu'sa, MEINDERT, a very distinguished Dutch landscape-painter, B. 1638; was a pupil of Ruysdael. D. about 1690. Hobbie, in Pennsylvania , a post-office of Luzerne co. Hob'bism, n. The philosophical doctrines of Thomas Hobbes , (q. v.) IMG:content-0588.png:[blocks in formation] -A position of difficulty, perplexity, or embarra ment; a quandary; a me ; a state of trouble or confusion. "Thou hast got into a hobble to-day." - Water ton. Hob'bledehoy, n. (Also hobbletehoy and hobbetehoy .) [Prov. Eng. See HOBBLE.] A growing youth; a strip- ling; one who has pa ed boyhood and not yet entered upon manhood; -generally used in a contemptuous -A township of Fairfield co. Hock'ingport, or TROY, in Ohio , a post-village of Athens co., on the Ohio River, abt. 25 m. below Marietta. Hockle, ( hok'l ,) v. a. [See Hock.] To hamstring; to divide the tendons of the hough. - To mow, as stubble. Hock'ley, in Texas , a post-village of Harris co., abt. 40 m. W.N.W. of Houston. Hob'bler, n. One who hobbles in his gait. Hob'bler, n. [O. Fr. hobiler .] One who served on a Hock'ley, in Wisconsin , a post-office of Vernon co. Ho'cus, v. α. To cheat; to swindle; to adulterate, as liquors; as, to hocus beer with laudanum. -n. A deceiver; a swindler; a common cheat or trickster. Ho'cus-po'cus, n. [D. hokus - bok us ; also, said to be a corruption of the Latin words hoc est corpus , in the office of the ma .) A conjurer's trick; a piece of leger- demain; also, a juggler, or one who practices sleight-of- hand. -v. a. To cheat; to juggle. Hod, n. [Fr. and Ger. hotte , from Allemannic huter , to cover.] A kind of wooden box-tray, used by bricklayers for carrying bricks, mortar, ., and borne over the shoulder by a handle or shaft. - A coal-box; a coal- scuttle. Hob'by, n. [Fr. hob in , perhaps from Dan. hoppe , a mare; probably akin to Icel. hoppa , to leap, and Lapp. hapos ; Gr. hippos , a horse.] An active ambling pony or nag; a galloway; a garran. - A stick to represent a horse, on which children get astride and play at horsemanship. (Generally called hobby-horse.) - Any favorite pursuit Hod'den-gray, n. [See HOIDEN.] Undyed woollen Hodchod'kee Creek, in Georgia , enters Patawha Creek in Randolph co. Hodgdon, ( hojdon ,) in Maine , a post-township of A roos took co., about 160 m. N.E. of August a; pop . abt. 1,200. Hodg'don's Mills, in Maine , a post-office of Lincoln county. Hod'genville, in Kentucky , a post-village, cap. of Larue co., about 75 m. S.W. of Frankfort. Hodge-podge, ( hojpoj .) n. [Fr. hochepot .] A hotch- potch; a hash; a mixed me , or medley of ingredients. "They have made our English tongue... a hodge-podge of all other speeches." - Spenser . Hob'nailed, a . Set with hobnails; as, hobnailed shoes. -A commixed quantity of land. Hob/nob, Hob′-a-nob, Hob-or-nob. [Prob-Hodge'-pudding, n. A pudding compounded of a ably from A. S. habban , have, and habban , ne habban , not medley of ingredients. have.] Take or not take; a familiar invitation or Hodgesville, (hojes-vil,) in Mi i ippi , a village of call to drink reciprocally. Hob's on's Choice, n . A choice without an alter- native; that which is tendered, or nothing; the one thing or none. This phrase is said to have originated from one Hobson, a livery-stable keeper at Cambridge, England, who obliged each customer requiring the hire of a horse to take the next in turn, or that which stood nearest the stable-door. Hoche, (hosh,) LAZARE, one of the most celebrated gen- erals of the French republic, B. near Versailles, 1768. He is chiefly known as the "Pacificator of La Vendée." D. suddenly, 18th Sept., 1797. Hochheim, (hōke'hi me,) a city of Pru ia in Na au, near the confluence of the Main and Rhine, 16 m. S.W. of Frankfort. It stands on a hill sloping to the Main, on which are the vineyards producing the true hock , a name often improperly given to Rhenish wines generally. Hochstadt, ( hōke's tat ,) a town of Bavaria, on the Danube, 11 m. N.W. of Augsburg. The Emperor Henry IV. was defeated in the plains of H. in 1081.- The French and Bavarians defeated the Imperialists here, Sept. 18, 1703. - Here also, near the village of Blen- heim, Aug. 13, 1704, the French and Bavarians were de- feated by the Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlb r- ough. At this place also, June 19, 1800, the French, under Moreau, defeated the Austrians, and effected the pa age of the Danube. Pop . 2,750. Hodier'nal, a . [Lat. hodiernus.] Of to-day; belong- ing to the present day. (R.) Hod'man, n.; pl . HODMEN. A bricklayer's tender or a istant; one who carries a hod. Hod'mandod, n. Same as DODMAN, q. v. Hodograph, ( hod'o -graf , ) n. [Gr. hodos , a-path, and grapho, I trace.) ( Math .) A curve imagined by Sir W. Hamilton to illustrate the theory of central forces. Hoe, ( hō,) n. [Ger. haue , from A.S. heawan , to hew. See HEW.) ( Agric . and Gardening .) An instrument for stir- ring the surface of the soil, cutting up weeds by the roots, and earthing up plants. The hand-hoe is a thin plate of iron 6 to 8 inches broad, and sharpened on the edge, fixed at right angles on the extremity of a pole or rod, which serves as a handle. This is called a draw - hoe , be- cause in the operation of hoeing the instrument is drawn or pulled toward the operator. Another kind of garden hoe has the blade or iron plate fixed on the extremity of the handle, and in continuation of it; and this is called a thrust hoe , because in hoeing the operator al- ways pushes the hoe forward. This kind is also called the Dutch hoe , most probably from having been first intro- duced from Holland. In agriculture, hoes of the thrust kind are drawn by beasts of burden, and commonly called horse hoes. In general form they reseinble a plough; but instead of the share they have one or more iron blades or plates with sharp edges, fixed to perpen- dicular iron rods at their lower extremities. These sharpened plates being drawn through the soil, cut through the roots of weeds an inch or two beneath the surface. Agricultural or field hoes are only used in the case of those field crops which are sown or planted in rows. There are a great many kinds of field or horse hoes, chiefly differing in the number of blades which are attached to the common frame for stirring and cleaning a greater or smaller number of spaces between the rows of drilled crops at once. Hoe, v. n. To cut, dig, scrape, or clean with a hoe; to clean from weeds; as, to hoe the soil in a garden, to hoe corn, . -v. n. To use a hoe; to operate with a hoe. Hoe'-cake, n. A coarse cake of Indian meal, baked over a fire; a johnny-cake. Hoe'ing, n. (Agric. and Gardening.) The operation of stirring the ground, cutting of weeds, or earthing up plants with a hoe. In the case of any of these operations dry weather must be chosen, otherwise the result will either be usele or injurious. Plants rooted up by the hoe in wet weather will produce fresh roots and grow again, while plants earthed up under similar circumstances will have the leaves which are covered by the soil de- cayed by it. In either case also the ground will be hardened by the treading of the feet of men or horses, so as to obstruct the progre of the roots, and to exclude air and water from penetrating through it to them. H. is sometimes performed on surfaces which are without weeds for the purpose of stirring the soil; but in such cases pronged hoes, or hoes having three or more long spikes or teeth, are more effective than hoes with broad plates or blades. Hoe's Printing-machine. See PRINTING. Hof, (or STADT ZUM HOF.) a city of Bavaria in Upper Franc on i a, on the left bank of the Saale, 30 m. N.E. of Baireuth. Manuf . Woollens, cottons, leather. It has also extensive breweries. Tyrol, long a part of the Austrian dom in- ions, was given by the treaty of Pres- burg to the king of Bavaria, then the ally of Napoleon, the Tyrolese revolt- ed, and Andreas H. became their leader. Within a week from the outbreak of the insurrection, early in April, 1809, the Bavarian forces were everywhere defeated and the Tyrol freed. Three French armies then invaded the prov- ince, and after tem- porary succe on their part, Hofer won the victory of Innspruck, and again freed his MONUMENT TO HOFER AT INNSPRUCK. country. By the ar- IMG:content-0589.jpg:[graphic] and for peasants; indeed, as a poet, he may be said to have written only for the simplest among his countrymen. He also contributed valuable philological articles to the best periodicals in Germany. Died Jan. 19, 1874. Hoffmann, AUGUST WILHELM, a distinguished German chemist, born at Gle en, 1818, was nominated in 1864 profe or of chemistry in the University of Berlin. His best work is entitled Memoirs on the Molecular Con stitution of the Organic Bases. Hoffman's, in New York, a post-office of Schenectady co.; formerly called HOFFMAN'S FERRY.