HER. 
| which were unknown. Thus the Theban Hercules be- 
came, as'it were, the 1 of heroism and man- 
Jy virtue, according to the notions of antiquity. Ac- 
cordingly it has been observed, that none even of the 
twelve great deities have so many monuments 
relating to them, as. Hercules. The famous statue, 
called the Farnese Hercules, is well known. The hero 
is there represented as resting after the last of his 
twelve labours, leaning on his club, and holding in his 
hand the apples of the H ides. In this, and in all 
the other figures of him, he is formed, by the breadth 
of his shoulders, the spaciousness of his chest, .the 
largeness of his size, the firmness, of his: muscles, 
to express avn, we strength, and a —— of endu- 
ring great fatigue. His other attributes are his lion’s skin, 
his club and his bow. See Plate CCXXXIY. Fig. 2. 
» Hercules was peculiarly honoured among the Greeks, 
by the epithet of Musagetes, the conductor of the Muses ; 
and among the Romans, by that of Hercules Musarum. 
In reference to these titles, he is represented, on medals, 
with a lyre in his hand; and the reverse. is marked 
with the figures of the nine Muses, with their appro- 
priate symbols. (z) f . 
» HEREFORD is a town of England, in the hundred of 
Grimsworth, 1353 miles W. N. W. from London. It is 
situated on the left bank of the river Wye, over which it 
hhas a stone bridge of six arches, constructed in the 15th 
century. Thestreets are in general wide: the inns are par- 
tieularly , one or two of them being equal to any in 
the kin . The public buildings particularly worthy of 
notice, are the cathedral, bishop’s reyes college, county 
gaol, and theatre. The general plan of the cathedral is 
_ that ofa cross. The interior is very interesting, though 
not nearly so much so as it was before the removal of 
the sepulchral memorials, painted glass, &c. The see 
of Hereford comprehends Herefordshire, and part. of 
Shropshire. It is rated in the king’s books at £768 : 
its real value is supposed to be about £3000. The ci- 
- vil government of the city is vested in a mayor, six 
aldermen, a common council consisting of 31 mem- 
bers, an high steward, and a recorder. It returns two 
members to Parliament, the right of election being 
vested in the citizens and freemen, to the. number of 
about 1200. The situation of this city, on the banks 
of the Wye, would be extremely favourable to its 
trade, if the navigation of that river were less preca- 
rious, The principal manufacture carried on is gloves. 
Cyder, grain, and oak bark, are conveyed in consider- 
able quantities down the river to. Bristol and other 
places ; and by means of the same navigation, the city 
4s supplied with coals from the forest of Dean. This 
city suffered much during the wars between the houses 
_ of York and Lancaster, and also during the wars be- 
. tween Charles and his parliament. In 1803, its popu- 
- lation: was 6828 ; in-1811, it amounted to 7306. See 
Duncombe’s Agriculture of Hereford ; Beauties of Eng- 
land and Wales, vol. v.; and Marshall’s Rural Economy 
of Gloucestershire, &c. vol. ii. p. 221, &c. (w.s.) 
« HEREFORDSHIRE is an inland county in. the 
-west of England, and on the borders of Wales. It is 
‘situated between 51° 53’ 7", and 52° 29’ 43” North 
-Latitude, and 2° 28’ 30/ and 3° 19' 32” West i- 
tude from London. It is. bounded on the north by 
‘Shropshire ; on the west by the counties of Radnor and 
‘Brecon, from the latter of which it is separated by the 
Hatterel Hills, or Black Mountains; on the south by 
Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire, being separated 
from the former by the river Wye, and from the lat- 
ter, partly by the river Munnow ; and on the’ east it)is 
VOL. X. PART HL 
745 
HER 
bounded by Worcestershire. 
a circle, but its.cireumference is made i lar by 
Its outline forms nearly Mereford- 
shire, 
many windings and. indentations. The extent, from “"Y"—™ 
Ludford on the north, to the ite border, near 
Monmouth on the south, is 38 miles; and from Clif. 
ford on the West, to Cradley on the east, $5 miles. 
Some detached parts are situated beyond the general 
outline ; the parish of Farlow being wholly insulated 
by Shropshire—that of Rochford by Worcestershire ; 
Lytton hill by Radnorshire ; and a considerable tract of 
land, ealled the Futhog, by Monmouthshire. Accord- 
ing to the original report to the, Board of Agriculture, ®* 
the gross:number of acres.is‘781,440 ; but in Mr Dun- 
combe’s report they are stated to be only 600,000. | In 
the. returns to Parliament respecting the rates, 
they are stated at 621,440; while Mr Marshall esti- 
mates them so high as' 800,000, - On the supposition 
that there are 600,000 acres, which is the most pro- 
bable, it is computed that 30,000 are the sites of towns, 
roads, water, &c..and.50,000 waste lands and woods ; 
hence. there, are..about 520,000 acres of cultivated 
ground; a much larger proportion than most of the. 
other counties of Ee glass. contain, 
.. Herefordshire is divided into eleven hundreds, viz. 
Broxash, which contains: 26 parishes; Ewias Lacey, 
which contains seven parishes; Greytree, which con- 
tains 17 ishes ; Grimsworth, which contains 23 -—pa- 
rishes; Huntingdon, which contains eight parishes ; 
Radlow, which contains 24 parishes ; Stretford, which 
contains 15 parishes; Webtree, which contains 27 
rishes ; Wigmore, which contains 14 parishes ; woe 
phey, which contains: 24 parishes; and Wormelow, 
which contains 30 parishes; making in all 215 parishes, 
besides six parishes in the city of Hereford. Besides 
this city, which is also the county town, there are in 
Herefordshire two borough towns, Weobley and Leo« 
minster ; and five other market-towns, Ross, Ledbury, 
Kington, Bromyard, and Pembridge. It returns eight 
members to parliament, viz. two for the county, two 
for the city, two for Leominster, and two for Weobly. 
It is in the province of Canterbury, and diocese of 
Hereford, and in the Oxford circuits. 
The- general aspect of this county is extremely beau- 
tiful ; its surface sis finely diversified, and broken by 
swelling heights in. such a manner as to resemble the 
more central parts ef Kent; no wide open vale, nor 
any extensive range Of hills, appear in the north-wes- 
tern quarter ; some ry omewee links of the Welch moun- 
tains rise above the hillocks and minor hills, which are 
scattered over the rest of the county. In short, Here- 
fordshire may be said, without ex. ion, to be alto- 
gether beautiful, From many of the elevations, the pros- 
ts are uncommonly fine ; rather rich and luxuriant, 
owever, than grand, or even pict ne. The fo- 
rest. prospects are from the Malvern hills on the east, 
and the Hatterel, or Black Mountains, on the west. 
tent, 
Divisions. 
Face of the 
country. 
It is equally favoured in respect to soil, which is Soi, 
everywhere fertile; no watery bottoms, nor thin-soiled 
barren hills, except perhaps in the northern and west- 
ern outskirts; every other part is uniformly produc- 
tive. The eastern side of the county is mostly a stiff 
clay, of great strength and tenacity; for the most pet 
red, but in some places of the ordinary colour. The 
western side is lighter, but still a productive soil. The 
county is clothed in almost tual verdure : on every 
side luxuriance . of ve, on is exhibited, in widely 
extended corn fields, rich orchards, expansive mea. 
dows; and flourishing plantations. The subsoil, as. well 
as the soil, contributes to this wonderful and almost 
5B 
