Chapter XX: Part 20
In trotting races, it will be noted, the time test is supreme, differing from running races, in which time is of comparatively little consequence. The animal which has the fastest record for 1 mile in harness is, until deposed, the king or queen of the trotting turf. Lady Suffolk, with her record of 2 m. 26(1/2) s., in 1843, held this honour until 1853, when Tacony trotted in 2 m. 25(1/2) s. under saddle; Flora Temple wrested it from him in 1856 by trotting in 2 m. 24(1/2) s. in harness. This latter mare, in 1859, trotted a mile in 2 m. 19(3/4) s., a feat which the best horsemen thought would never be repeated, but since that time forty-two trotters have beaten 2 m. 20 s. Dexter's record was 2 m. 17(1/4) s. in 1867, and Goldsmith Maid's in 1871 was 2 m. 17 s., which she reduced, by successive efforts, to 2 m. 16(3/4) s., 2 m. 16 s., 2 m. 15 s., 2 m. 14(3/4) s., and finally, in 1874, to 2 m. 14 s. In 1878 Rarus trotted a mile in 2 m. 13(1/4) s., and in October 1879 the bay gelding St Julien, by Volunteer, son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, dam by Henry Clay, trotted a mile in California in 2 m. 12(3/4) s. Other notable performances reducing the record were Maud S. in 1881, 2 m. 10(1/4) s.; Maud S. in 1885, 2 m. 8(3/4) s.; Sunol in 1891, 2 m. 8(1/4) s.; Nancy Hanks in 1892, 2 m. 4 s.; Alix in 1894, 2 m. 3(3/4) s.; Cresceus in 1901, 2 m. 2(1/4) s.; Lou Dillon in 1905, 1 m. 58(1/2) s. Improved times have doubtless been the result of improved methods, as well as of care in the breeding of the trotter. Some very severe training rules used to be sedulously observed; about 1870, for instance, a horse never had water the night before a race, and the system generally appears to have overtaxed the animal's strength. A prominent consideration in trotting races is the adjustment of toe-weights, which are fastened on to the horses' feet to equalize their action, and it is found that horses improve their time to the extent of several seconds when properly shod.
Pacing races are also frequent in the United States. In trotting the action may be described as diagonal; the pacer moves both legs on the same side at the same time, and both feet stride as one. A similar "gait," to employ the American term, was called in England some centuries ago an "amble." The pacer moves more easily and with apparently less exertion than the trotter, and the mile record (made by Prince Alert in 1903) stands at 1 m. 57 s.
Owing to the vast size of the country there are various centres of sport, which can be classified with reasonable accuracy as follows: the Eastern States, dominated by the Jockey Club, founded in New York in 1894, and recognized by a state law in 1895; the Middle Western States, under the control of the Western Jockey Club, whose headquarters are in Chicago; the Pacific Coast, with San Francisco for its centre; and the Southern and South-Western States, with Louisville as the most important centre. The passage of the racing law in New York State marked the opening of a new era. Supreme even over the Jockey Club is a State Racing Commission of three, appointed by the governor of the state. While the Jockey Club is only recognized by law in its native state, it has assumed and maintains control of all racing on the eastern seaboard, within certain lines of latitude and longitude, extending as far north as the Canadian border and south to Georgia. There is small question that other states, both east and west, will follow suit and enact similar laws. The Western Jockey Club, though not recognized by law, controls practically all the racing through the middle west, south-west and south; but the racing associations of the Pacific Coast have maintained a position of independence.
What New York is to the east, Chicago is to the middle west, and a very large proportion of American racing is conducted close to these centres. In New York State the Coney Island Jockey Club, at Sheepshead Bay; the Brooklyn Jockey Club, at Gravesend; the Westchester Racing Association, at Morris Park; the Brighton Beach Racing Association, at Brighton Beach; the Queen's County Jockey Club, at Aqueduct; and the Saratoga Racing Association, at Saratoga, are the leading organizations; and all these race-courses, with the exception of Saratoga, are within a radius of 20 miles of the city. The Empire City Jockey Club, near Yonkers, and another club with headquarters near Jamaica, Long Island, have also become prominent institutions. The Washington Park Club, at Chicago, is the leading Turf body of the west, and the only one on an equal footing with the prominent associations of New York State. With this single exception the most important and valuable stakes of the American Turf are given in the east; and so great has the prosperity of the Turf been since the Jockey Club came into existence that the list of rich prizes is growing at a surprising rate. In this respect the principal fault is the undue encouragement given to the racing of two-year-olds. At the winter meetings held at New Orleans and San Francisco, two-year-olds are raced from the very beginning of the year; and under the rules of the Jockey Club of New York they run as early as March. The Westchester Racing Association, with which are closely identified some of the principal members of the Jockey Club, gives valuable two-year-old stakes in May. The Futurity Stakes, the richest event of the year--on one occasion it reached a value of $67,675--is for two-year-olds, and is run at Sheepshead Bay in the autumn. The institution of races, either absolutely or practically at weight-for-age, and over long courses, has engaged much attention. The Coney Island Jockey Club has the leading three-year-old stake in the Lawrence Realization, over 1 mile 5 furlongs, with an average value of about $30,000. The Westchester Racing Association's two principal three-year-old stakes, the Withers, over a mile, run in May, and the Belmont, 1 mile and 3 furlongs, run later in the same month, are of less value, but are much older-established and have a species of "classic" prestige, dating from the old Jerome Park race-course in the 'sixties. The Coney Island Jockey Club's Century and the Annual Champion Stakes, both for three-year-olds and upwards, over a mile and a half and two miles and a quarter respectively, are fair specimens of the races the associations have founded. At Saratoga a stake of $50,000 for three-year-olds and upwards, distance a mile and a quarter, was opened, and run for first in 1904. The hope is to wean owners from the practice of overtaxing their two-year-olds, which has resulted practically in a positive dearth, almost a total absence, of good four-year-olds and upwards of late years. Handicaps play a more important part than in England. The principal events of this character, such as the Brooklyn Handicap at Gravesend and the Suburban at Sheepshead Bay, have for years drawn the largest attendances of the racing season.
Practically all flat racing in the United States is held on "dirt-tracks," i.e. courses with soil specially prepared for racing, instead of turf courses. At Sheepshead Bay there is a turf course, but it is only used for a minority of races. Dirt-tracks, which are, like many other things in American racing, a legacy from the once hugely popular harness-racing, are conducive to great speed, but are costly in the extreme strain on horses' legs. Steeplechases are run on turf. This branch of the sport in the east is now flourishing under the administration of the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association, a sister body of the Jockey Club. Comparatively few races are, however, run under these rules, as the weather conditions render it impossible to have a separate season for cross-country sport and steeplechases, and hurdle races are incorporated in programmes of flat racing held through the spring, summer and autumn, though the ground is frequently so hard as to be unsafe. Since the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association assumed control, regulation courses, practically similar in every respect to those used in England, have been insisted upon in the east, the "open ditch" figuring under the name of the "Liverpool." In the west and south there is not the same uniformity, and so far the sport has not flourished.
FRANCE
Racing in France as conducted on modern lines may be said to date from the year 1833, when the French _Stud-Book_ was originated, and a body formed, somewhat after the model of the English Jockey Club, under the title of the Societe d'Encouragement pour l'Amelioration des Races de Chevaux en France. Races took place in the Champs de Mars, and an unsuccessful attempt was made in 1834 to arrange for a course, or "hippodrome," as it is termed in France, at Maisons Laffitte. Chantilly was, however, fixed upon as the principal racing centre; on the 22nd April 1836 the first meeting was held there, with five races on the card, the principal being the Prix d'Orleans, a stake of 3500 francs, named after the due d'Orleans, one of the chief promoters of the fixture. Next day the first race for the Prix du Jockey Club was run, and won by Frank, the property of Lord Henry Seymour, who was at the time taking a very active part in French sport. The Prix du Jockey Club was then worth 5000 francs; the value has since increased to 200,000 francs. This race occupies in France the place of the English Derby. The Prix de Diane, which corresponds to the English Oaks, was first run in 1843. Chantilly still continues an important centre of the French Turf, and a great many horses are trained in the district. Attempts had been made to popularize racing at Longchamps prior to the year 1856, when the Societe d'Encouragement obtained a lease, erected stands, laid out the course, and held their first meeting on the 27th August 1857. Next season two meetings were held, one of four days in the spring and another of three in the autumn; at the present time the sport is vigorously carried on from March to the end of October, except during a summer recess. In 1857 meetings under the auspices of the Societe d'Encouragement began to take place at Amiens, Caen, Nantes, Versailles, Moulins and other towns; and there were stakes for two-year-olds in the spring, though of late years the appearance of the young horses has been postponed to the 1st of August. Progress was rapid, and in 1863 two important events were contested for the first time, the Prix du Prince Imperial, which was designed to balance the English St Leger, but for obvious reasons faded out of the programme, and the Grand Prix de Paris, an international race for three-year-olds, run at Longchamps over a distance of 1 mile 7 furlongs, and now the most valuable stake in Europe. In 1909 the prize was L14,071. The first Grand Prix fell to an English horse, Mr Savile's The Ranger; two years later it was won by Gladiateur, winner of the English Derby and the property of the comte de Lagrange, who raced equally in France and in England; the duke of Beaufort's Ceylon was successful in 1866, and the marquis of Hastings' Earl in 1868. Mr Savile's Cremorne followed up his Derby victory by a victory at Longchamps in 1872, as did Mr Baltazzi's Kisber four years later. English horses were also victorious in 1874 (Mr W. R. Marshall's Trent), in 1878 (Prince Soltykoff's Thurio), in 1880 (Mr C. Brewer's Robert the Devil), in 1881 (Mr Keene's Foxhall, who, however, should rather rank as an American horse), in 1882 (Mr Rymill's Bruce), in 1885 (Mr Cloete's Paradox), in 1886 (Mr Vyner's Minting); and in 1906 Major Eustace Loder's Derby winner Spearmint. During the first 23 years of the Grand Prix (owing to the war the race did not take place in 1871) the stake fell to English horses--if Kisber and Foxhall be included--on twelve occasions, and generally to English jockeys. In recent years, however, French owners have held their own. In not a few respects racing is managed more judiciously than in England. The courses, for one thing, are better tended and maintained. The five- and six-furlong races for others than two-year-olds, which are so common at English meetings, are comparatively rare in France, and the value of the prizes in an average day's racing is considerably higher across the Channel than in England. A very large percentage of trainers and jockeys are English, and the former are, as a rule, quite as expert as at Newmarket and elsewhere. Transatlantic methods have been introduced by American jockeys since 1899. From the middle of February until the middle of December a race meeting within easy reach of Paris takes place almost every day, except during August, when the sport is carried on in the provinces, notably at Deauville. Near Paris, the chief centre after Longchamps is Maisons Laffitte. At Longchamps, early in October, a race called the Prix du Conseil Municipal, worth L4000, for three-year-olds and upwards, over a mile and a half, was organized in 1893, and has usually attracted English horses, Mr Wallace Johnstone's Best Man having been successful in 1894, and Mr Sullivan's Winkfield's Pride the following year. Except when the Whip is challenged for and the challenge decided over the Beacon Course at Newmarket, no race is run in England over a longer distance than two miles and 6 furlongs; but in France the Prix Gladiateur, of L1200 and a work of art value L100, 3 miles 7 furlongs, creates considerable interest at Longchamps in the autumn.
Steeplechasing.
The first recognized steeplechase in France took place at Croix de Berny, and was won by the comte de Vaublanc's May-fly, all the horses at that time being ridden by gentlemen. Sport does not seem to have been carried on with much spirit, for it is said that the death of an animal called Barcha, in 1839, nearly led to the abandonment of the meeting; and it was not till 1863, when the Societe des Steeplechases de France was founded, that the business was resolutely taken in hand. Gravelle and Vincennes were the principal centres until 1873, when the Societe obtained possession of the ground at Auteuil, where the excellent course now in use was laid out. In 1874 twelve days' racing took place here, the card each day including three steeplechases and a hurdle race, the "hurdles," however, being small fences, as they are at present. The Grand Steeplechase d'Auteuil was then for a stake of 30,000 francs, at the time the most valuable offered in any country; but, as in racing on the flat, the stakes have enormously increased in value, and in 1901 the Paris Grand Steeplechase, as the chief event is now called, credited the winner with L6020, the hurdle race being worth rather more than half as much. In England there is scarcely any steeplechasing between March and November, except at hunt meetings, but in Paris cross-country sport is pursued almost all through the year, the chief races at Auteuil taking place in June, about the time of the Grand Prix, which is usually run for between the English Epsom and Ascot meetings. The Auteuil course is laid out in the shape of the figure 8, with varied fences, several of which really test a horse's jumping capacity; and variety is further obtained by starting the fields in different places and traversing the course in different ways. St Ouen, a meeting within half an hour's drive of the Louvre, is entirely devoted to steeplechasing; and jumping is also carried on at Vincennes, Colombes, Enghien, and elsewhere near Paris, as also at Nice in the winter, at Dieppe and other places in August. As a rule, the stakes run for, especially at Auteuil, are very much larger than in England. There are none of the clubs and special enclosures such as at Sandown, Kempton, Hurst, Lingfield, Gatwick, &c., though portions of the stand are set apart for privileged persons. A fee of 20 francs is charged for admission to the chief French race-courses, with half as much for a lady's voucher, and the tickets give access everywhere but to the very few reserved portions. At Vincennes, St Cloud, and some other courses trotting races are also contested.
_Other Countries._--Racing in Germany is mainly conducted under the
authority of the Union Club of Berlin, the principal course being the
Hoppegarten. Two-year-olds do not run until the 1st of June, except in
Saxony, where they appear a month earlier. During the month of August
there are several days' racing at Baden-Baden, steeplechases as well
as flat races being run. Some of the more valuable stakes are usually
contested by a proportion of horses from France and other countries, a
few being occasionally sent from England. For years past blood-stock
has been imported from England. In Austria the two centres of racing
are Vienna and Budapest, each of which has its Jockey Club. Racing in
Belgium derives no little support from the contiguity of the country
to France. The headquarters of the Belgium Jockey Club are in the Bois
de la Cambre at Boisfort, and meetings are held at Ostend, Antwerp,
Spa, Bruges and elsewhere. Steeplechases take place at Groenenval and
on other Belgian courses, but are not of high class. Racing has not
reached a great degree of excellence in Italy, though attempts have
been made to improve competitors by the purchase of Melton, who won
the Derby of 1885, and of other notable animals. Meetings take place
at Florence, Padua, Bologna and other places, but the stakes are
usually small. (A. E. T. W.)
HORSERADISH (Ger. _Meerrettig_; Fr. _raifort_ = _racine forte_, _cran de Bretagne_; Swed. _Peppar-rot_; Russ. _chren_), known botanically as _Cochlearia Armoracia_, a perennial plant of the natural order Cruciferae, having a stout cylindrical rootstock from the crown of which spring large radical leaves on long stalks, 4 to 6 in. broad, and about a foot in length with a deeply crenate margin, and coarsely veined; the stem-leaves are short-stalked or sessile, elongated and tapering to their attachment, the lower ones often deeply toothed. The flowers, which appear in May and June, are 3/8 in. in width, in flat-topped panicles, with purplish sepals and white petals; the fruit is a small silicula, which does not ripen in the climate of England. The horseradish is indigenous to eastern Europe. Into western Europe and Great Britain, where it is to be met with on waste ground, it was probably introduced. It was wild in various parts of England in Gerard's time.
The root, the _armoraciae radix_ of pharmacy, is 1/2 to 2 in. or more in diameter, and commonly 1 ft., sometimes 3 ft. in length; the upper part is enlarged into a crown, which is annulated with the scars of fallen leaves; and from the numerous irregular lateral branches are produced vertical stolons, and also adventitious buds, which latter render the plant very difficult of extirpation. From the root of Aconite (q.v.), which has occasionally been mistaken for it, horseradish root differs in being more or less cylindrical from a little below the crown, and in its pale yellowish (or brownish) white hue externally, acrid and penetrating odour when scraped or bruised, and pungent and either sweetish or bitter taste. Under the influence of a ferment which it contains, the fresh root yields on distillation with water about .05% of a volatile oil, butyl sulphocyanide, C4H9CNS. After drying, the root has been found to afford 11.15% of ash. Horseradish root is an ingredient in the _spiritus armoraciae compositus_ (dose 1-2 drachms) of the British Pharmacopoeia. It is an agreeable flavouring agent. In common with other species of _Cochlearia_, the horseradish was formerly in high repute as an antiscorbutic. The root was, as well as the leaves, taken with food by the Germans in the middle ages, whence the old French name for it, _moutarde des Allemands_; and Coles, writing in 1657, mentions its use with meat in England, where it is still chiefly employed as a condiment with beef.
For the successful cultivation of the horseradish, a light and friable damp soil is the most suitable; this having been trenched 3 ft. deep in autumn, and the surface turned down with a liberal supply of farm-yard manure, a second dressing of decomposed manure should in the ensuing spring be dug in 2 ft. deep, and pieces of the root 6 in. in length may then be planted a foot apart in narrow trenches. During summer the ground requires to be kept free of weeds; and the application of liquid manure twice or thrice in sufficient quantity to reach the lowest roots is an advantage. When dug the root may be long preserved in good condition by placing it in sand.
See Gerard, _Herball_, p. 240, ed. Johnson (1636); Fluckiger and
Hanbury, _Pharmacographia_, p. 71 (2nd ed., 1879); Bentley and Trimen,
_Med. Pl._, i. 21 (1880).
HORSE-SHOES. The horny casing of the foot of the horse and other Solidungulates, while quite sufficient to protect the extremity of the limb under natural conditions, is found to wear away and break, especially in moist climates, when the animal is subjected to hard work of any kind. This, however, can be obviated by the simple device of attaching to the hoof a rim of iron, adjusted to the shape of the hoof. The animal itself has been in a very marked manner modified by shoeing, for without this we could have had neither the fleet racers nor the heavy and powerful cart-horses of the present day. Though the ancients were sufficiently impressed by the damage done to horses' hoofs to devise certain forms of covering for them (in the shape of socks or sandals), the practice of nailing iron plates or rim-shoes to the hoof does not appear to have been introduced earlier than the 2nd century B.C., and was not commonly known till the close of the 5th century A.D., or in regular use till the middle ages. The evidence for the earlier date depends on the doubtful interpretations of designs on coins, &c. As time went on, however, the profession of the farrier and the art of the shoesmith gradually grew in importance. It was only in the 19th century that horse-shoeing was introduced in Japan, where the former practice was to attach to the horse's feet slippers of straw, which were renewed when necessary, a custom which may indicate the usage of early peoples. In modern times much attention has been devoted to horse-shoeing by veterinary science, with the result of showing that methods formerly adopted caused cruel injury to horses and serious loss to their owners. The evils resulted from (1) paring the sole and frog; (2) applying shoes too heavy and of faulty shape; (3) employing too many and too large nails; (4) applying shoes too small and removing the wall of the hoof to make the feet fit the shoes, and (5) rasping the front of the hoof. In rural districts, where the art of the farrier is combined with general blacksmith work, too little attention is apt to be given to considerations which have an important bearing on the comfort, usefulness and life of the horse. According to modern principles (1) shoes should be as light as compatible with the wear demanded of them; (2) the ground face of the shoe should be concave, and the face applied to the foot plain; (3) heavy draught horses alone should have toe and heel calks on their shoes to increase foothold; (4) the excess growth of the wall or outer portion of horny matter should only be removed in re-shoeing, care being taken to keep both sides of the hoof of equal height; (5) the shoe should fit accurately to the circumference of the hoof, and project slightly beyond the heel; (6) the shoes should be fixed with as few nails as possible, six or seven in fore-shoes and eight in hind-shoes, and (7) the nails should take a short thick hold of the wall, so that old nail-holes may be removed with the natural growth and paring of the horny matter. Horse-shoes and nails are now made with great economy by machinery, and special forms of shoe or plate are made for race-horses and trotters, or to suit abnormalities of the hoof.
HORSETAIL (_Equisetum_), the sole genus of the botanical natural order Equisetaceae, consisting of a group of vascular cryptogamous plants (see PTERIDOPHYTA) remarkable for the vegetative structure which resembles in general appearance the genera of flowering plants _Casuarina_ and _Ephedra_. They are herbaceous plants growing from an underground much-branched rootstock from which spring slender aerial shoots which are green, ribbed, and bear at each node a whorl of leaves reduced to a toothed sheath. From the nodes spring whorls of similar but more slender branches. Some shoots are sterile while others are fertile, bearing at the apex the so-called fructification--a dense oval, oblong conical or cylindrical spike, consisting of a number of shortly-stalked peltate scales, each of which has attached to its under surface a circle of spore-cases (sporangia) which open by a longitudinal slit on their inner side. The spores differ from those of ferns in their outer coat (_exospore_) being split up into four club-shaped hygroscopic threads (_elaters_) which are curled when moist, but become straightened when dry. In most species the fertile and sterile shoots are alike, both being green and leaf-bearing, but in a few species the fertile are more or less different, e.g. in _E. arvense_ the fertile shoots appear first, in the spring, and are unbranched and not green. Any portion of the underground rhizome when broken off is capable of producing a new plant; hence the difficulty of eradicating them when once established. There are 24 known species of the genus which is universally distributed.
_Equisetum arvense._
A, Fertile shoot, springing from the rhizome, which also bears tubers;
the vegetative shoots have not yet unfolded.
F, Sterile vegetative shoot.
B, C, Sporophylls bearing sporangia, which in C have opened.
D, Spore showing the two spiral bands of the perinium.
E, Dry spores showing the expanded spiral bands.
(A, F, reduced. B, C, D, E, enlarged.)]
The corn horsetail _E. arvense_, one of the commonest species, is a troublesome weed in clayey cornfields (see fig.). The fructification appears in March and April, terminating in short unbranched stems. It is said to produce diarrhoea in such cattle as eat it. The bog horsetail, _E. palustre_, is said to possess similar properties. It grows in marshes, ditches, pools and drains in meadows, and sometimes obstructs the flow of water with its dense matted roots. The fructification in this species is cylindrical, and in that of _E. limosum_, which grows in similar situations, it is ovate in outline. The largest British species, _E. maximum_, grows in wet sandy declivities by railway embankments or streams, &c., and is remarkable for its beauty, due to the abundance of its elegant branches and the alternately green and white appearance of the stem. In this species the fructification is conical or lanceolate, and is found in April on short, stout, unbranched stems which have large loose sheaths. Horses appear to be fond of this species, and in Sweden it is stored for use as winter fodder. _E. hyemale_, commonly known as the Dutch rush, is much more abundant in Holland than in Britain; it is used for polishing purposes. _E. variegatum_ grows on wet sandy ground, and serves by means of its fibrous roots to bind the sand together. The horsetails are remarkable for the large quantity of silica they contain in the cuticle (hence their value in polishing), which often amounts to half the weight of the ash yielded by burning them; the roots contain a quantity of starch.
HORSHAM, a market town in the Horsham parliamentary division of Sussex, England, 38 m. S. by W. from London by the London, Brighton and South Coast railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 9446. It is pleasantly situated in the midst of a fertile country near the source of the Arun. A picturesque avenue leads to the church of St Mary, principally Early English and Perpendicular, with remains of Norman work, having a lofty tower surmounted by a spire, and containing several fine monuments, tombs and brasses. Other buildings include the grammar school, founded in 1532 and rebuilt in 1893, a town hall and corn exchange, erected in 1866 in Italian style, with an assembly room. In the vicinity are several fine mansions. The buildings of Christ's Hospital (q.v.) at West Horsham were opened in 1902, the school being removed hither from London. The town has industries of tanning, founding, carriage-building and flour-milling.
Some neolithic remains have been found at Horsham. The town is not mentioned in Domesday Book, but the Rape of Bramber, in which it lies, belonged at that time to William de Braose. His descendants held the borough and the manor of Horsham, and through them they passed to the family of Mowbray, afterwards dukes of Norfolk. There are traces of burgage tenure at Horsham in 1210, and it was called a borough in 1236. It has no charter of incorporation. Horsham sent two representatives to parliament from 1295 until 1832, when the number was reduced to one. In 1885 it was disfranchised. In 1233 Henry III. granted William de Braose a yearly three-days' fair at his manor of Horsham. In the reign of Edward I. William de Braose claimed to have a free market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Fairs are held on the 5th of April, 18th of July, 17th of November and 27th of November. Market days are Monday and Wednesday. "Glovers" of Horsham are mentioned in a patent roll of 1485, and a brewery existed here in the time of Queen Anne.
HORSLEY, JOHN (c. 1685-1732), British archaeologist. John Hodgson (1779-1845), the historian of Northumberland, in a short memoir published in 1831, held that he was born in 1685, at Pinkie House, in the parish of Inveresk, Midlothian, and that his father was a Northumberland Nonconformist, who had migrated to Scotland, but returned to England soon after the Revolution of 1688. J. H. Hinde, in the _Archaeologia Aeliana_ (Feb. 1865), held that he was a native of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the son of Charles Horsley, a member of the Tailors' Company of that town. He was educated at Newcastle, and at Edinburgh University, where he graduated M.A. on the 29th of April 1701. There is evidence that he "was settled in Morpeth as a Presbyterian minister as early as 1709." Hodgson, however, thought that up to 1721, at which time he was residing at Widdrington, "he had not received ordination, but preached as a licentiate." Even if he was ordained then, his stay at the latter place was probably prolonged beyond that date; for he communicated to the _Philosophical Transactions_ (xxxii. 328) notes on the rainfall there in the years 1722 and 1723. Hinde shows that during these years "he certainly followed a secular employment as agent to the York Buildings Company, who had contracted to purchase and were then in possession of the Widdrington estates." At Morpeth Horsley opened a private school. Respect for his character and abilities attracted pupils irrespective of religious connexion, among them Newton Ogle, afterwards dean of Westminster. He gave lectures on mechanics and hydrostatics in Morpeth, Alnwick and Newcastle, and was elected F.R.S. on the 23rd of April 1730. It is as an archaeologist that Horsley is now known. His great work, _Britannia Romana, or the Roman Antiquities of Britain_ (London, 1732), one of the scarcest and most valuable of its class, contains the result of patient labour. There is in the British Museum a copy with notes by John Ward (c. 1679-1758), biographer of the Gresham professors. Horsley died of apoplexy on the 12th of January 1732, on the eve of the publication of the _Britannia Romana_. He also published two sermons and a handbook to his lectures on mechanics, &c., and projected a history of Northumberland and Durham, collections for which were found among his papers.
J. P. Wood (d. 1838) (_Parish of Cramond_, 1794, and _Anecdotes of
Bowyer_, 1782, p. 371) says that his wife was a daughter of William
Hamilton, D.D., minister of Cramond, afterwards professor of divinity
in Edinburgh University, but probably the John Horsley in question was
another, the father of Samuel Horsley (q.v.).
HORSLEY, JOHN CALLCOTT (1817-1903), English painter, son of William Horsley, the musician, and grand-nephew of Sir Augustus Callcott, was born in London, on the 29th of January 1817. He studied painting in the Academy schools, and in 1836 exhibited "The Pride of the Village" (Vernon Gallery) at the Royal Academy. This was followed by numerous _genre_ pictures at subsequent exhibitions up to 1893, the best known of these being "Malvolio," "L'Allegro and il Penseroso" (painted for the Prince Consort), "Le Jour des Morts," "A Scene from Don Quixote," &c. In 1843 his cartoon of "St Augustine Preaching" won a prize in the Westminster Hall competition, and in 1844 he was selected as one of the six painters commissioned to execute frescoes for the Houses of Parliament, his "Religion" (1845) being put in the House of Lords; he also painted the "Henry V. assuming the Crown" and "Satan surprised at the Ear of Eve." In 1864 he became R.A., and in 1882 was elected treasurer, a post which he held till 1897, when he resigned and became a "retired Academician." Mr Horsley had much to do with organizing the winter exhibitions of "Old Masters" at Burlington House after 1870. When, during the 'eighties, the example of the French Salon began to affect the Academy exhibitors, and paintings of the nude became the fashion, he protested against the innovation, and his attitude caused _Punch_ to give him the punning sobriquet of "Mr J. C(lothes) Horsley." He died on the 18th of October 1903. His son, Sir Victor Horsley (b. 1857), became famous as a surgeon and neuropathologist, and a prominent supporter of the cause of experimental research.
HORSLEY, SAMUEL (1733-1806), English divine, was born in London on the 15th of September 1733. Entering Trinity College, Cambridge, he became LL.B. in 1758 without graduating in arts, and in the following year succeeded his father in the living of Newington Butts in Surrey. Horsley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767; and secretary in 1773, but, in consequence of a difference with the president (Sir Joseph Banks) he withdrew in 1784. In 1768 he attended the eldest son of the 4th earl of Aylesford to Oxford as private tutor; and, after receiving through the earl and Bishop Lowth various minor preferments, which by dispensations he combined with his first living, he was installed in 1781 as archdeacon of St Albans. Horsley now entered in earnest upon his famous controversy with Joseph Priestley, who denied that the early Christians held the doctrine of the Trinity. In this controversy, conducted on both sides in the fiercest polemical spirit, Horsley showed the superior learning and ability. His aim was to lessen the influence which the prestige of Priestley's name gave to his views, by indicating inaccuracies in his scholarship and undue haste in his conclusions. For the energy displayed in the contest Horsley was rewarded by Lord Chancellor Thurlow with a prebendal stall at Gloucester; and in 1788 the same patron procured his promotion to the see of St David's. As a bishop, Horsley was energetic both in his diocese, where he strove to better the position of his clergy, and in parliament. The efficient support which he afforded the government was acknowledged by his successive translations to Rochester in 1793, and to St Asaph in 1802. With the bishopric of Rochester he held the deanery of Westminster. He died at Brighton on the 4th of October 1806.
Besides the controversial _Tracts_, which appeared in 1783-1784-1786,
and were republished in 1789 and 1812, Horsley's more important works
are:--_Apollonii Pergaei inclinationum libri duo_ (1770); _Remarks on
the Observation ... for determining the acceleration of the Pendulum
in Lat. 70 deg. 51'_ (1774); _Isaaci Newtoni Opera quae extant Omnia_,
with a commentary (5 vols. 4to, 1779-1785); _On the Prosodies of the
Greek and Latin Languages_ (1796); _Disquisitions on Isaiah xviii._
(1796); _Hosea, translated ... with Notes_ (1801); _Elementary
Treatises on ... Mathematics_ (1801); _Euclidis elementorum libri
priores XII._ (1802); _Euclidis datorum liber_ (1803); _Virgil's Two
Seasons of Honey_, &c. (1805); and papers in the _Philosophical
Transactions_ from 1767 to 1776. After his death there
appeared--_Sermons_ (1810-1812); _Speeches in Parliament_ (1813);
_Book of Psalms, translated with Notes_ (1815); _Biblical Criticism_
(1820); _Collected Theological Works_ (6 vols. 8vo, 1845).
HORSLEY, WILLIAM (1774-1858), English musician, was born on the 15th of November 1774. He became in 1790 the pupil of Theodore Smith, an indifferent musician of the time, who, however, taught him sufficient to obtain in 1794 the position of organist at Ely Chapel, Holborn. This post he resigned in 1798, to become organist at the Asylum for Female Orphans, as assistant to Dr Callcott, with whom he had long been on terms of personal and artistic intimacy, and whose eldest daughter he married. In 1802 he became his friend's successor upon the latter's resignation. Besides holding this appointment he became in 1812 organist of Belgrave Chapel, Halkin Street, and in 1838 of the Charter House. He died on the 12th of June 1858. Horsley's compositions are numerous, and include amongst other instrumental pieces three symphonies for full orchestra. Infinitely more important are his glees, of which he published five books (1801-1807) besides contributing many detached glees and part songs to various collections. His glees, "By Celia's arbour," "O nightingale," "Now the storm begins to lower," and others, are amongst the finest specimens of this peculiarly English class of compositions. Horsley's son Charles Edward (1822-1876), also enjoyed a certain reputation as a musician. He studied in Germany under Hauptmann and Mendelssohn, and on his return to England composed several oratorios and other pieces, none of which had permanent success. In 1808 he emigrated to Australia, and in 1872 went to America; he died in New York.
HORSMAN, EDWARD (1807-1876), English politician, was the son of a well-to-do gentleman of Stirling, and connected on the mother's side with the earls of Stair. He was educated at Rugby and Cambridge, and was called to the Scotch bar in 1832, but then took to politics. He was elected to parliament as a Liberal for Cockermouth in 1836, and represented that constituency till 1852, when he was defeated; in 1853 he was returned for Stroud, and sat there till 1868; and from 1869 till he died he was member for Liskeard. He was a junior lord of the treasury in Lord Melbourne's administration for a few months during 1841, and became prominent for attacking Lord John Russell's ecclesiastical policy in 1847 and subsequent years. In 1855, under Lord Palmerston, he was made chief secretary for Ireland, but resigned in 1857. He gradually took up a position as an independent Liberal, and was well known for his attacks on the Church, and his exposures of various "jobs." But his name is principally connected with his influence over Robert Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke) in 1866 at the time of Mr Gladstone's Reform Bill, to which he and Lowe were hostile; and it was in describing the Lowe-Horsman combination that John Bright spoke of the "Cave of Adullam." Horsman died at Biarritz on the 30th of November 1876.
HORST, the term used In physical geography and geology for a block of the earth's crust that has remained stationary while the land has sunk on either side of it, or has been crushed in a mountain range against it. The Vosges and Black Forest are examples of the former, the Table, Jura and the Dole of the latter result. The word is also applied to those larger areas, such as the Russian plain, Arabia, India and Central South Africa, where the continent remains stable, with horizontal table-land stratification, in distinction to folded regions such as the Eurasian chains.
HORT, FENTON JOHN ANTHONY (1828-1892), English theologian, was born in Dublin on the 23rd of April 1828, the great-grandson of Josiah Hort, archbishop of Tuam in the 18th century. In 1846 he passed from Rugby to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was the contemporary of E. W. Benson, B. F. Westcott and J. B. Lightfoot. The four men became lifelong friends and fellow-workers. In 1850 Hort took his degree, being third in the classical tripos, and in 1852 he became fellow of his college. In 1854, in conjunction with J. E. B. Mayor and Lightfoot, he established the _Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology_, and plunged eagerly into theological and patristic study. He had been brought up in the strictest principles of the Evangelical school, but at Rugby he fell under the influence of Arnold and Tait, and his acquaintance with Maurice and Kingsley finally gave his opinions a direction towards Liberalism. In 1857 he married, and accepted the college living of St Ippolyts, near Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, where he remained for fifteen years. During his residence there he took some part in the discussions on university reform, continued his studies, and wrote essays for various periodicals. In 1870 he was appointed a member of the committee for revising the translation of the New Testament, and in 1871 he delivered the Hulsean lectures before the university. Their title was _The Way, the Truth, and the Life_, but they were not prepared for publication until many years after their delivery. In 1872 he accepted a fellowship and lectureship at Emmanuel College; in 1878 he was made Hulsean professor of divinity, and in 1887 Lady Margaret reader in divinity. In the meantime he had published, with his friend Westcott, an edition of the text of the New Testament. The Revision Committee had very largely accepted this text, even before its publication, as a basis for their translation of the New Testament. The work on its appearance created an immense sensation among scholars, and was vehemently attacked in many quarters, but on the whole it was received as being much the nearest approximation yet made to the original text of the New Testament (see BIBLE: _New Testament_, "Textual Criticism"). The introduction was the work of Hort, and its depth and fulness convinced all who read it that they were under the guidance of a master. Hort died on the 30th of November 1892, worn out by intense mental labour. Next to his Greek Testament his best-known work is _The Christian Ecclesia_ (1897). Other publications are: _Judaistic Christianity_ (1894); _Village Sermons_ (two series); _Cambridge and other Sermons_; _Prolegomena to ... Romans and Ephesians_ (1895); _The Ante-Nicene Fathers_ (1895); and two _Dissertations_, on the reading [Greek: monogenes theos] in John i. 18, and on _The Constantinopolitan and other Eastern Creeds in the Fourth Century_. All are models of exact scholarship and skilful use of materials.
His _Life and Letters_ was edited by his son, Sir Arthur Hort, Bart.
(1896).
HORTA, the capital of an administrative district comprising the islands of Pico, Fayal, Flores and Corvo, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Pop. (1900) 6574. Horta is a seaport on the south-east coast of Fayal. It is defended by two castles and a wall, but these fortifications are obsolete. The harbour, a bay 2 m. long and nearly 1 m. broad, affords good anchorage in 5 to 20 fathoms of water, but is dangerous in south-westerly and south-easterly winds. It is the headquarters of profitable whale, tunny, bonito and mullet fisheries. Its exports include sperm-oil, fruit, wine and grain. Between 1897 and 1904 the port annually accommodated about 140 vessels of 220,000 tons, mostly of British or Portuguese nationality.
HORTEN, a seaport of Norway, in Jarlsberg-Laurvik _amt_ (county), beautifully situated on the west bank of the Christiania Fjord, opposite Moss, 38 m. by water and 66 by rail S. of Christiania. Pop. (1900) 8460. It is practically united with Karl-Johansvaern, which is defended by strong fortifications, is the headquarters of the Norwegian fleet, and possesses an arsenal and shipbuilding yards. There are also an observatory and a nautical museum.
HORTENSIUS, QUINTUS (114-50 B.C.), surnamed Hortalus, Roman orator and advocate. At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar, and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes III. of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependants in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time his reputation as an advocate was established. As the son-in-law of Q. Lutatius Catulus he was attached to the aristocratic party. During Sulla's ascendancy the courts of law were under the control of the senate, the judges being themselves senators. To this circumstance perhaps, as well as to his own merits, Hortensius may have been indebted for much of his success. Many of his clients were the governors of provinces which they were accused of having plundered. Such men were sure to find themselves brought before a friendly, not to say a corrupt, tribunal, and Hortensius, according to Cicero (_Div. in Caecil._ 7), was not ashamed to avail himself of this advantage. Having served during two campaigns (90-89) in the Social War, he became quaestor in 81, aedile in 75, praetor in 72, and consul in 69. In the year before his consulship he came into collision with Cicero in the case of Verres, and from that time his supremacy at the bar was lost. After 63 Cicero was himself drawn towards the party to which Hortensius belonged. Consequently, in political cases, the two men were often engaged on the same side (e.g. in defence of Rabirius, Murena, Publius Cornelius Sulla, and Milo). After Pompey's return from the East in 61, Hortensius withdrew from public life and devoted himself to his profession. In 50, the year of his death, he successfully defended Appius Claudius Pulcher when accused of treason and corrupt practices by P. Cornelius Dolabella, afterwards Cicero's son-in-law.
Hortensius's speeches are not extant. His oratory, according to Cicero, was of the Asiatic style, a florid rhetoric, better to hear than to read. He had a wonderfully tenacious memory (Cicero, _Brutus_, 88, 95), and could retain every single point in his opponent's argument. His action was highly artificial, and his manner of folding his toga was noted by tragic actors of the day (Macrobius, _Sat._ iii. 13. 4). He also possessed a fine musical voice, which he could skilfully command. The vast wealth he had accumulated he spent on splendid villas, parks, fish-ponds and costly entertainments. He was the first to introduce peacocks as a table delicacy at Rome. He was a great buyer of wine, pictures and works of art. He wrote a treatise on general questions of oratory, erotic poems (Ovid, _Tristia_, ii. 441), and an _Annales_, which gained him considerable reputation as an historian (Vell. Pat. ii. 16. 3).
His daughter HORTENSIA was also a successful orator. In 42 she spoke against the imposition of a special tax on wealthy Roman matrons with such success that part of it was remitted (Quint. _Instit._ i. 1. 6; Val. Max. viii. 3. 3).
In addition to Cicero (_passim_), see Dio Cassius xxxviii. 16, xxxix.
37; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ix. 81, x. 23, xiv. 17, xxxv. 40; Varro,
_R.R._ iii. 13. 17.
HORTENSIUS, QUINTUS, dictator of Rome 286 B.C. When the people, pressed by their patrician creditors, "seceded" to the Janiculum, he was commissioned to put an end to the strife. He passed a law whereby the resolutions of the multitude (_plebiscita_) were made binding on all the citizens, without the approval of the senate being necessary. This was not a mere re-enactment of previous laws. Another law, passed about the same time, which declared the _nundinae_ (market days) to be _dies fasti_ (days on which legal business might be transacted), is also attributed to him. He is said to have died while still dictator.
Aulus Gellius xv. 27; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 15; Macrobius,
_Saturnalia_ i. 16; Livy, _Epit._ ii.
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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus"Chapter XX: Part 20
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