628 



HANDSPIKE HANNIBAL. 



the splendid choir which he had established at his seat 

 at Cannons. For the service of this magnificent 

 chapel, Handel produced those anthems anil organ 

 fugues, which alone would have been sufficient to 

 immortalize him. After two years dedicated to this 

 iiiuii i Scent patron, the royal academy of music was 

 instituted ; and tliis great composer, whose fame had 

 now reached its height, was placed at its head ; and 

 this, for a short period, may be considered as the 

 most splendid era of music in England. The warmth 

 of his own temper, however, excited by the arro- 

 gance and caprice of Carestini, Cuzzoni, and others 

 of his principal Italian singers, gave birth to many 

 violent quarrels ; and, public opinion becoming to a 

 certain extent enlisted in favour of his opponents, his 

 popularity betem to wane, and, after ten years' dura- 

 tion, the OperaVinder his direction were abandoned. 

 In 1741, heAbroii^ht out his chef-d'oeuvre, the oratorio 

 of the Messiah. Ehis sublime composition was not, 

 however, duly appreciated at its first representation 

 a circumstance which,,may be accounted for by the 

 offence which its author > 1acl just given, in refusing 

 to compose for Senesino, who had insulted him. 

 Disgusted at its reception, Handel set out for Ireland 

 towards the close of the same year, where it was 

 much more successful ; and when, after an absence 

 of nine months, which had turned out most profitably 

 both to his purse and fame, he returned to London, 

 the hostility against him had much abated, and his 

 oratorios were constantly received at Covent-garden 

 theatre, with the greatest approbation, by overflow- 

 ing audiences : the Messiah, in particular, increased 

 yearly in reputation. Some time previously to his 

 decease, he was afflicted by total blindness ; but this 

 misfortune had little effect on his spirits, and he con- 

 tinued not only to perform in public, but even to 

 compose. His own air, however, from the oratorio 

 of Sampson, Total Eclipse, is said always to have 

 affected and agitated him extremely after this melan- 

 choly privation. April 6, 1759, he was, as usual, at 

 his post in the orchestra ; but expired, after a very 

 short illness, on the 13th of the same month. 



Handel's habits of life were regular ; and although, 

 in his contests with the nobility, he lost at one time 

 the whole of his savings, amounting to 10,000, yet 

 he afterwards recovered himself, and left 10,000 at 

 his decease. His appetites were coarse, his person 

 large and ungainly, his manners rough, and his tem- 

 per even violent ; but his heart was humane, and his 

 disposition liberal. His early and assiduous atten- 

 tion to his profession prevented him from acquiring 

 much literary information, but he spoke several mo- 

 dern languages. His musical powers can hardly be 

 estimated too highly. In boldness and strength of 

 style, and in the combination of vigour, spirit, and 

 invention in his instrumental compositions, he was 

 never surpassed. His choruses have a grandeur and 

 sublimity which have never been equalled. A very 

 honourable national tribute of applause was given to 

 Handel in 1785, by a musical commemoration at 

 Westminster abbey, in which pieces selected exclu- 

 sively from his works were performed by a band of 

 500 instruments, in the presence of the royal family, 

 and the principal nobility and gentry of the three 

 kingdoms. This great composer never married ; he 

 was buried in Westminster abbey, where a monu- 

 ment by Roubilliac is erected to his memory. 



HANDSPIKE ; a wooden bar or lever to heave 

 round the windlass, in order to raise the anchor from 

 the bottom ; or for stowing the anchor, provisions, 

 or cargo, in the ship's hold. The gunner's hand- 

 spike is shorter than the former, and armed with two 

 claws for managing the artillery. 



HANG-TCHEOU ; a city in China, of the first 

 rank, capital of Tche-kiang ; 600 miles S. S. \V. of 



Peking ; Ion. 119 46' E. ; lat. 30 C 20* N. It is one 

 of the richest and largest cities of the empire, called 

 by the Chinese the terrestrial paradise, and said to 

 contain 1,000,000 souls. It is situated between the 

 basin of the grand canal and the river Tsien-tang, 

 which falls, into the sea at the distance of little more 

 than sixty miles to the eastward. The tide, when full 

 increases the width of this river to about four mile 

 opposite to the city. It has nothing grand in its aj 

 pearance, except its walls. The houses are low 

 none exceed two stories ; the streets are narrow 

 they are paved with large, smooth flags in the ink 

 die, and with small flat stones on each side. Tin 

 chief streets consist entirely of shops and warehous 

 many not inferior to the most splendid of the kind 

 Europe. A brisk and extensive trade is carried i 

 in silks, and not a little in furs and English broad 

 cloths. The country around produces great quant 

 ties of excellent silk ; and the people of the place 

 say that 60,000 persons are employed in raising it in 

 the neighbouring towns and villages. 



HANMER, SIR THOMAS, was bom in 1676, and 

 succeeded his uncle in his title and the family estate 

 of Hanmer. In 1713, he was chosen speaker of the 

 house of commons. This distinguished office he filled 

 during the remainder of his parliamentary career. 

 Towards the close of his life, he withdrew altogether 

 from public business, and occupied himself in ele- 

 gant literature ; the fruits of which appeared in a 

 corrected and illustrated edition of Shakspeare's dra- 

 matic works, in six quarto volumes. He died in 

 1746. 



HANNIBAL, or ANNIBAL ; son of Hamilcar 

 Barcas; born B. C. 247. At the age of nine years, 

 his father, whom he was eager to accompany in the 

 war against Spain, made him swear at the altar eter- 

 nal hatred to the Romans. He was a witness of his 

 father's achievements in Spain ; but Hamilcar hav- 

 ing fallen in battle, in Lusitania, nine years after- 

 wards, and his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, having been 

 appointed to succeed him, Hannibal returned home. 

 At the age of twenty-two, he returned to the army, 

 at the request of Hasdrubal. The soldiers perceived 

 in him the spirit of Hamilcar, whom they had so 

 highly esteemed ; and, in three campaigns, his talent 

 and his courage were so conspicuous, that the army, 

 on the murder of Hasdrubal, in 221, conferred on 

 him the chief command by acclamation. Faithful to 

 his early vow, the young general of twenty-six years 

 soon manifested his determination to violate the 

 treaties with Rome, whenever an opportunity, should 

 offer. This object was effected by the capture 

 Saguntum, which he took, with the consent of 

 Carthaginian senate, after a siege of eight month 

 The Romans, alarmed by the fate of this city, sen 

 ambassadors to Carthage to demand that Hannft 

 should be delivered up. The demand being refuse 

 they declared war. Hannibal raised a powerfu 

 force, and conceived the bold design of attacking 

 Romans in Italy. After providing for the security 

 of Africa, and having left his brother Hasdrubal wit' 

 an army in Spain, he began his march with 90,~ 

 foot-soldiers, forty elephants, and 12,000 horsemen, 

 traversed Gaul in the depth of winter with incredible 

 rapidity, and reached the foot of the Alps. In nine 

 days, he crossed the summit of the Little St Bernard. 

 At least this is the spot fixed upon by the careful in- 

 vestigations of general Melville ; but, according to 

 Reichard, he crossed the Genevre. Of the troops 

 with which he had set out, however, he had now only 

 20,000 foot-soldiers and 6000 horse remaining ; and 

 these were little more than skeletons. But his cour- 

 age remained unshaken, and his only alternative was 

 victory or death. The capture of Turin secured him 

 a supply of provisions, and encouraged the people of 



