IT A N
669
HAN
of Handel ; and therefore in 1720 he obtained leave to performhis opera of Radamisto . The house was so crowded, that manyfainted ; and 40s. were offered by some for a seat in the gallery.The contention, however, sfill ran very high between Handel ’sparty and that of the two Italian masters ; upon which Dean Swift with his usual acrimony wrote the following epigram:
Some say that signior BuononciniCompar’d to Handel ’s a mere ninny:
Others do swear that to him Handel Is hardly lit to hold the candle.
Strange that such high contests should he’Twixt Tweedle dum and Tweedle-dee 1The! academy being firmly established, Handel conducted itfor nine years with great success; but about that time an irrecon-cileable enmity took place between Handel and Senesino . Fromthe conduct of Handel in this allair, he lost the good opinion ofhis friends. But in 1742 his popularity returned, and he retainedhis glory to the last. He died in 1759, and was buried in West-minster Abbeys where there is an elegant monument to his me-mory. A complete edition of his works was published by Dr.Arnold. His musical powers are best expressed by Arhutimot’sreply to Pope , who seriously asked his opinion of him as a mu-sician ; “ Conceive (said he) the highest you can of his abilities,and they are much beyond any thing you can conceive.”
HANGING, the method of indicting death on criminals bysuspending them by the neck.
IIANG-TCHEOU-FOU, the metropolis of the province ofTche-kiang in China. It is, according to the Chinese , the para-dise of the earth. It is 12 miles in circumference, exclusive of itssuburbs ; and the number of its inhabitants amounts to more thana million. It is computed that there are 10,000 workmen withinits walls employed in manufacturing silk. This city has a garri-son of 3000 Chinese , under the command of the viceroy, and3000 Tartars , commanded by a general of the same nation. Ithas under its jurisdiction seven cities of the second and thirdclass.
HANIFAH, or IIANFA, Aha, sirnamed A1 Nooma, themost celebrated Doctor of the orthodox Mussulmans. He was theson of Thabet, and was born at Coufah in the 80th year of theHegira. He founded the sect of the Ilanifites, which continuesto be the most popular of the four principal sects among the Mus-sulmans. Like other teachers of new opinions, he suffered perse-cution during bis life, being imprisoned at Bagdad (ill he died, bythe kbalif Almansor, for refusing to subscribe to the doctrine ofabsolute predestination. But his opinions were afterwards broughtinto such*credit, by Abou Joseph, a sovereign judge under thekhalif Hadi, that to be a Hanifite was reckoned synonymous withbeing a good Mussulman : and about 335 years after his death,which happened in the 150tli year of the Hegira, Schaw Melick,in the 485th year of that ana, and of the Christian, 1092, built amagnificent monument to his memory, and a college, which beappropriated solely to the professors of Aba Ilanitah’s doctrines.The most eminent of his successors were Aclnned Ben Ali, A1Giaffas, and Al Razzi.
HAN I FITES. See the last article.
HANKS, in naval affairs, ara wooden rings fixed upon the staysto confine stay-sails at diliferent distances. They are in place ofgromets, being more convenient as well as ofa later invention.
HANNIBAL , a famous Carthaginian general, and the son ofHamilcar , who made him swear eternal enmity to the Romans,at the age of eight years. On the death of Asdrubal , he obtainedthe command of the Carthaginian armies, and in three years sub-dued Spain. Having taken Saguntum , which was in alliance withthe Romans, it occasioned the second Punic war, in which heshewed the most consummate generalship. He is said to havecrossed the Alps by softening the rocks with fire and vinegar.On his arrival in Italy he defeated Cornelius Scipm, and obtainedseveral victories over the most experienced Roman generals, par-ticularly at Canute , where the Romans lost about 40,000 men, andhad Hannibal pushed on for Rome it must have fallen. But bystopping at Capua, where his soldiers gave themselves up to lux-ury, the Romans recovered from their surprise; and when he ap-peared before the city, it excited so little concern, that the groundon which he was encamped was put up for sale, and sold at a highprice. He soon retired and experienced a.defeat near Zania. A
Vot. ii.— no. 101.
peace was then concluded ; but Hannibal fearing the Romans, fledto Prusias king of Uithynia, and on hearing that the senate badsent to demand him, he poisoned himself, 182 B. C. ( Watkins.)
IiANNUYE, or IiANUYE, a town of France in the de-partment of the Dyle, and late province of Austrian Brabant; 29miles S. E. of Louvain .
HANOVER, lately an electoral state of Germany , of whichthe king of Great Britain was elector. It was very considerable forthe extent of its territories, which were, The duchy of Calenberg ,in which are the cities of Hanover, Calenberg , Ilameleu, Neu-stadt, Gottingen, &c. the duchy of Grubenhagen, the county of Diepholt, the county of Illoga, in the bishopric of Hildesheim ;the bailiages of Coldingen, Luther, Badenburg, and Westersho-ven, with the right of protection of the city of Hildesheim : andthe county of Danneberg, ceded by the Dukes of Wolfenbuttle tn.the dukes of Lunenberg, as an equivalent for their pretensions onthe city of Brunswick. The whole of this country has latelybeen incorporated in the kingdom of Westphalia.
Hanover, the capital of the above state is agreeably’situated in .a sandy plain on the Lyne, 25 miles W. of Brunswick, and 58S.E.of Bremen. Lon. 9. 44. E. Lat. 52. 22. N.
Hanover, a large island in lire Pacific Ocean , opposite theN. W. extremity of New Ireland , 30 miles in length. TheS.W.part of it is situated in Lon. 178. 27. E. Lat. 2. 49. S,
Hanover, a town of the United States, in Grafton county , 115miles N. W. by W. of Portsmouth.
Hanover, New, a county of N. Carolina, in Wilmington dis-trict.
IIANSE, an ancient name for a society or company of mer-chants; particularly that of certain cities in Germany , &c. hencecalled Ilanse-Towns. The word is obsolete High Dutch orTeutonic; and signifies alliance, confederacy, or association. Somederive it from the German words, am see, that is, on the sea ; asthe firsHiatise-towns were al! situated on the sea-coast: whencethey' are said to have been first called am zee stenen, i. e. cities onthe sea; and afterwards, by abbreviation, Iiansee, and lianse.
The Hans e-Towns, or The Hanseatic Society were severalmaritime cities of Germany , who entered into a league for the mu-tual protection of their commerce. Bremen and Amsterdam werethe two first that formed it; whose trade received such advantageby their fitting out two men of war in each to convoy their ships,that more cities continually entered into the league.- even kingsand princes made treaties with them, and were often glad of theirassistance and protection; by which means they grew so powerfulboth by sea and land, that they raised armies as well as navies, en-joyed countries in sovereignty, and made peace or war, though al-ways in defence of their trade, as if th^y had been an united stateor commonwealth.—At this time also many cities, though theyhad no great interest in trade, or intercourse with the ocean, cameinto their alliance for the preservation of their liberties; so that in1200 , we find no less than 72cities in the list of the Ilanse-Towns;.particularly Bremen, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Rotterdam , Dort,Bruges, Ostend, Dunkirk, Middleburgb, Calais, Rouen , Ro-chelle, Bourdeaux, St. Malo, Bayonne, Bilboa, Lisbon, Seville ,Cadiz, Carthagena, Barcelona, Marseilles, Leghorn , Naples,Messina, London, Lubec, Rostock, Stralsund, Stetin, Wismar ,Konigsberg , Dantzig, Elbing, and Marienbnrg.
I1AN-TCHONG, a city of China , in the province of Chen-si,on the Han, 625 miles S. W. of Pekin.
II AN WAY, Jonas, a gentleman eminent for his benevolentdesigns and useful writings, was born at Portsmouth in Hampshire,on the 12th of August 1712. Being bred a merchant he connect-ed himself as a partner in Mr. Dingley’s house, in St. Petersburgh;where he arrived on the 10th of June 1743. The trade of theEnglish over the Caspian Sea into Persia at this period had beenentrusted to the care of Mr. Elton, who, had injudiciously en-gaged in the service of Nadir Shah, to build ships on the Caspian alter tire European manner. This had alarmed the merchants inthe Russian trade, who resolved to send one of their body into l’er-a. On this occasion Mr. Haiuvay offered his service, whichwas accepted, lie set out on the 10th Sept.; and, after expe-riencing various dangers in that kingdom during 12 months, re-turned to St. Petersburgh, Jan. 1, 1745, without being able to es-tablish the intended trade by the Caspian; -partly through the8 II. jealousy