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HUL 
share of Catholicism ; but laboured to heal 
all their wounds, when the storm arose, of 
which he. was one of the first, and the most 
illustrious of the victims. It ought ever to 
be remembered, to the honour of this un- 
happy monarch, that he paid no attention 
to the intolerant and disgraceful “ Memoire 
de P Assemble generate du clergd,” in 1780, 
against the reformed. During his reign a 
law was past, which gave to his non-Roman 
Catholic subjects, as they were denominat- 
ed, all the civil advantages and privileges of 
their Roman Catholic brethren. From that 
period the situation of the French protes- 
tants (for the obnoxious term Huguenots 
seems to have been almost laid aside) has 
been tolerably happy. But what seems to 
have given a stability and respectability to 
the French Protestants, are 'the decrees 
which have been passed in their favour by 
the present Emperor of France. On Sun- 
day the 9th of August, 1807, the consistory 
of the Protestant church being admitted to 
an audience, their president, M. Marron, 
addressed the Emperor in a speech of consi- 
derable eloquence, in which he gratefully 
acknowledged his protection and care of 
them as a religions body; and declared that 
the roofs of their temples shall ever resound 
with praises for such signal favours as they 
enjoy under his auspices. His speech was 
answered in the most gracious and cordial 
planner. The following expressions in it 
are remarkable : “ I accept the blessing and 
the congratulation of the consistory. You, 
owe me no obligation; I wish not men to 
think themselves indebted to me, because 
I have been merely just. Conscience is not 
within the jurisdiction of human laws. I 
guarantee to you, for myself and my succes- 
sors, not only the intendance, but also the 
perfect freedom and inviolability of your 
worship. The Protestants have always 
proved themselves to be good citizens, and 
faithful subjects of the law. Though I do 
not profess their religion, tell them that I 
place them in the circle of my best friends !” 
Thus are the once despised and persecut- 
ed Huguenots raised from situations of suf- 
fering and wretchedness to that rank in so- 
ciety which is the unalienable right of every 
honest man, be his religious principles what 
they may. 
HULK, in sea language, a name given to 
any old vessel laid by as unfit for service. 
In the royal ports they are used for the ac- 
commodation of a ship’s company while 
their own vessel is in dock under repair. 
HULL, in the sea language^ is the main 
HIJR 
body of a ship, without either masts, yards, 
sails, or rigging. Thus, to strike a hull in a 
storm is to take in her sails, and to lash the 
helm on the lee side of the ship ; and to hull, 
or lie a hull, is said of a ship whose sails are 
thus taken in, and helm lashed a-lee. 
HUMANITIES, in the plural, signify 
grammar, rhetoric, and poetry, known by 
the name of literal humaniores ; for teaching 
of which, there are professors in the univer- 
sities of Scotland, called humanists. 
HUMERUS, in anatomy, the upper part 
of the arm, between the Scapula and elbow. 
See Anatomy. 
HUMIDITY See Hygrometer. 
HUMMING bird. See Trochilus. 
HUMULUS, hops, in botany, a genus of 
the Dioecla Pentandria class and order. 
Natural order of Scabridae. Urtieee, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : male, calyx five- 
leaved; corolla none: female, calyx one- 
leafed,' spreading obliquely, entire ; corolla 
none ; styles two ; seed one, within a leafed 
calyx. There is but one species, viz. H. !u- 
pulus, hops, which see. 
HURA, in botany, a genus of the Mo- 
noecia Monadelphia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Tricorne. Euphorbia;, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : male, anient im- 
bricated ; perianth truncated; corolla none; 
filaments cylindrical, peltate at the tip, sur- 
rounded by very many anthers in pairs : fe- 
male, calyx and corolla none ; style funnel- 
form ; stigma twelve-cleft; capsule twelve- 
celled; seed one. There is but one spe- 
cies, viz. H. crepitans, sand-box tree. This 
grows naturally in the Spanish West In- 
dies, from whence it has been introduced 
into the British colonies of America, where 
some of the plants are preserved by way of 
curiosity. It is about twenty-four feet in 
height, dividing into many branches, which 
abound with a milky juice. The fruit is 
very curious in its structure ; and the tree, 
when it grows well, is spreading, and some- 
times casts a shade forty feet in diameter ; 
frbm the quickness of its vegetation, its 
parts are of so loose a texture, that a loud 
clap of thunder, or a sudden gust of wind, 
frequently causes the largest boughs to snap 
asunder ; the trunk is of little use, except 
for fire-wood. 
HURDLES, in fortification, twigs of wil- 
lows or 'osiers interwoven close together, 
sustained by long stakes, and usually laden 
with earth. Hurdles, called also clays, are 
made in the figure of a long square ; the 
length being five or six feet, and the breadth 
three, or three and a half: the closer they 
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