390 HEM 
and in height. The appearance of thefe ttfo plants, 
however, is marked with fuch a ftriking difference, that 
the father of hiftory, fince he fpeaks fo incorre&ly, muff 
have never feen hemp. He neverthelefs tells us, that 
the Thracians procured from the northern countries of 
Europe the hemp which they employed to make cloth 
for their veftments. Ariftophanes fpeaks of a hemp- 
merchant ; and we know that the Greeks ufed hemp 
for cordage, and for caulking their veflfels. But they 
did not then cultivate this production, for it is not men¬ 
tioned by Theophraftus; and Hiero procured hemp 
from the northern countries of Europe; that is to fay, 
from the banks of the Rhodanus, which runs into the 
Viftula, and which he calls, improperly, the Eridanus. 
It is dill from Ruffia and Livonia that Europe is fup- 
plied with hemp. It is very probable that it was not 
cultivated by the Greeks till about the commencement 
of the Chriftian sera. The Romans, like the Greeks, 
employed this fubftance for cordage, and for caulking 
their velTels; but neither of them manufactured fail- 
cloth of it, if we are to judge from the Greek and Ro¬ 
man writers whofe works have been preserved. In the 
■13th century, and the following ones, hempen cloth be¬ 
came very common in the middle and fouthern parts of 
Europe. There can be no doubt that the remains of 
this cloth, employed with thofe of linen for making pa¬ 
per, then introduced into Europe, contributed to pre¬ 
serve the ancient authors whofe works were effaced ; 
and that the fame parchment might be employed for 
the books on the church and treatifes of theology. In 
fome ancient authors mention is made of torrefied hemp- 
feed, with the fmoke of which barbarous nations got in¬ 
toxicated ; and the praftice, (till- common in Egypt 
and Alia, of chewing thefe feeds for the like purpofe. 
In this country it is erroneoufly imagined, that the 
large quantity of hemp exported from Ruffia, is the pro¬ 
duce of an extenfive trad of land ; on the.contrary, the 
hemp exported is all produced in a particular, and not 
very extenfive, diftrid, lying between Kalooga, Orel, 
BelofF, Potchep, and Smolensk, where the foil is fuita- 
ble for the cultivation of it; and the people, time im¬ 
memorial, have been in the habit of cultivating and pre¬ 
paring it for the market. There being more of labour 
than of (kill in the work of curing and cleaning hemp, 
were a large quantity to be produced in this country, 
the neceffary labour might be eafily abridged by the ufe 
of machinery. At the prices hemp has hitherto been 
importable from Ruffia, no individual, it is true, has 
had fufticient encouragement to cultivate it in large 
quantities at home, with any view to profit; and it per¬ 
haps would have been bad policy, as long as Great Bri¬ 
tain and Ruffia were upon good terms, for the former to 
have laid any very heavy additional duty on hemp, in 
the’wayof experiment. But now we are at war with 
Ruffia, the impolicy of fuch a meafure is out of the 
_ queftion ; and this feems a proper moinbnt, therefore, 
for the legiflature to adopt meafures for the encourage¬ 
ment of individuals to cultivate hemp, which it would 
be abfurd to fuppofe cannot be done in this country to 
any extent , and of fuch a quality as would not only make 
us independent of Ruffia for the prefent, but tend to 
humble her for the future. Four acres are calculated 
to produce about a ton of drcfled hemp; and the great 
value, as well as utility of its culture, muff now be ob-. 
,vious to all men.—See the articles Cannabis, and 
Husbandry. 
It has been very lately afcertained, that a fort of 
hemp has been produced in general Chriltophe’s pro¬ 
vinces in St. Domingo, very little inferior to, and capa¬ 
ble of a'nfwering all the purpofes of, the beft Ruffian 
hemp. The Britifh government, it is laid, ordered per- 
fons to make experiments upon both kinds; which was 
carried into effedt on the 19th of this prefent month, 
(May 1808 ;) and the refult is ftated to be, that the Ruf¬ 
fian hemp did not exceed that grown in the Haytian do- 
•smatcms in point of ftrength by more that) one eighth. 
H E M 
A great extent of country around Cape Franpois will be 
fown next feafon, for the ufe of the Britifh nation. 
The prefent exifling laws refpefting hemp and flax are 
as follow : By flat. 33 Hen. VIII. c. 17, None may water 
hemp or flax in any river, running water, ftream, brook, 
or common pond, where beads are ufed to be watered, 
• but only in their feveral ponds, See. for that purpofe, 
on pain of twenty (hillings. By 15 Car. II. c. 15, Any 
perfons rnay in any place or corporate town, privileged 
or unprivileged, fet up manufadlures of hemp or flax ; 
and perfons coming from abroad, ufing the trade of 
.hemp or flax drefllng, and of making thread, weaving 
cloth made of hemp or flax, or making tapeffry hangt 
ings, twine or nets for fifhery, cordage, &c. after three 
years, fhall have the privileges of natural-born fubjedts. 
With regard to the importation and exportation of hemp 
and flax from Ireland, &c. fee fats. 7 & 8 Will. III. 
c. 39. 1 Anne, fat. 2. c. 8. 16 Geo'. II, c. 26. and 19 Geo. III. 
c.37. the lad giving a bounty, and the others allowing 
importation duty-free. By 26 Geo. III. c.43, and by 
27 Geo. III. c. 13, bounties are,granted'for (even years 
of threepence per done for hemp, and fourpence for flax, 
raifed in England.—The tithe of hemp and flax is, by 
11 and 12 Will; III. c. 16, afcertained at five (hillings 
an acre. For penalties on workmen Embezzling it, fee 
1 Aline, fat. 2. c. iS..$ 1. Againfl frauds in manufac¬ 
tures of hemp, flax, &c. fee 22 Geo. II. c. 27. 
HEMP, Bastard,/, in botany. See Datisca. 
HEMP, Nettle. See Galeopsis, vol. viii. p. 180. 
HEMP, Virginia. See AcrubA. 
HEMP AGRI'MONY. See Eufatorium. 
HEMP AGRIMONY, Bastard. See Ageratum, 
HEMP AGRIMONY, Water. See Bidens. 
HEMP'-SEED, f The feed of hemp. Shakefpeare 
puts this word into Mrs. Quickly’s mouth as a term of re¬ 
proach.—Do, do, thou rognie ! do, thou hemp-feed. Hen. IV. 
P.II. 
HEM'PEN, adj. Made of hemp.—Upon the hempen 
tackle fhip-boys climb. Shakefpeare. 
In foul reproach of knighthood’s fair degree, 
About his neck a hempen rope he wears. Fairy Queen. 
HEMP'FIELD, tlje name of two toWnfhips belonging 
to the American.States, in Pennfylvania, the one in Lan- 
cafter county, the other in that of Weftmoreland. 
HEMP'STED, otHemel-Hempsted, a confiderable 
town of Hertfordfliire, diliant only twenty miles from 
London ; has a market on Thurfdays, and a fair on the 
Thurfday after Trinity-Monday. It (lands among hills, 
upon a fmall river called the Gade, feven miles weft of 
St. Alban’s, and five fouth-eafl of Berkhamfled. The 
church has a handfome tower; with a t^ll fpire, and a 
capital ring of bells. In the time of the Saxons it was 
called by the name of Enamfled, or Hean-Hempfled, i. e. 
High-Hempfled ; and, in William the'Conqueror’s time, 
by the name of Hemelamflede. Henry VIII. incorpo¬ 
rated it by the name of a bailiff' and corporation afiifl- 
ants r and empowered the inhabitants to have a common 
feal, and a pie-powder-court during its markfet and fairs. 
11 has been reckoned one of thegreatefl markets for wheat 
in England,-20,oool. a T week being often returned in it 
■ only for meal. Eleven pair of mills (land within four 
miles of the placej which bring 4 great corn-trade to it. 
HEMS'KERCK (Egbert), denominated the Old, a ce¬ 
lebrated Flemifh painter of converfations; of whom, 
though fo itniverfally know.' ,we have no information as 
to the time in which he flourifhed, or the fchool in 
which he wgs taught. By frequenting fairs, rev.els, and 
bufy feenes, he acquired a furprifing talent of connedl. 
ing expreffive features in groups, with many of the hu¬ 
mourous, but truly natural, circumllances of life. He 
was the Flemifh Hogarth. 
HEMS'KERCK (Egbert), defignated by the title 
of the Young , was the difciple of Peter Grebber; but 
imitated the manner of Brower and of the elder HemR 
kerck. He was born at Haerlem in 1643, but fettled at 
3 London 
