Chapter H to Hagring of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

H to Hagring

H. This letter represents a style or hedge. It is called in Hebrew heth or cheth (a hedge).

H.B. (Mr. Doyle, father of Mr. Richard Doyle, connected with Punch). This political caricaturist died 1868.

H.M.S. His or Her Majesty's service or ship, as H.M.S. Wellington.

H.U. Hard up.

Habeas Corpus The "Habeas Corpus Act" was passed in the reign of Charles II., and defined a provision of similar character in Magna Charta, to which also it added certain details. The Act provides (1) That any man taken to prison can insist that the person who charges him with crime shall bring him bodily before a judge, and state the why and wherefore of his detention. As soon as this is done, the judge is to decide whether or not the accused is to be admitted to bail. [No one, therefore, can be imprisoned on mere suspicion, and no one can be left in prison any indefinite time at the caprice of the powers that be. Imprisonment, in fact, must be either for punishment after conviction, or for safe custody till the time of trial.]
   (2) It provides that every person accused of crime shall have the question of his guilt decided by a jury of twelve men, and not by a Government agent or nominee.
   (3) No prisoner can be tried a second time on the same charge.
   (4) Every prisoner may insist on being examined within twenty days of his arrest, and tried by jury the next session.
   (5) No defendant is to be sent to prison beyond the seas, either within or without the British dominions.
   The exact meaning of the words Habeas Corpus is this: "You are to produce the body." That is, You, the accuser, are to bring before the judge the body of the accused, that he may be tried and receive the award of the court, and you (the accused) are to abide by the award of the judge.
   Suspension of Habeas Corpus. When the Habeas Corpus Act is suspended, the Crown can imprison persons on suspicion, without giving any reason for so doing; the person so arrested cannot insist on being brought before a judge to decide whether or not he can be admitted to bail; it is not needful to try the prisoner at the following assize; and the prisoner may be confined in any prison the Crown chooses to select for the purpose.

Haberdasher from hapertas, a cloth the width of which was settled by Magna Charta. A "hapertas- er" is the seller of hapertas-erie.

"To match this saint there was another,
As busy and perverse a brother,
An haberdasher of small wares
In politics and state affairs."
Butler: Hudibras, iii. 2.

Habit is Second Nature The wise saw of Diogenes, the cynic. (B.C. 412-323.)
   Shakespeare: "Use almost can change the stamp of nature" (Hamlet, iii. 4).
   French: "L'habitude est une seconde nature."
   Latin: "Usus est optimus magister" (Columella).
   Italian: "L'abito è una seconda natura."

Habsburg is a contraction of Habichts - burg (Hawk's Tower); so called from the castle on the right bank of the Aar, built in the eleventh century by Werner, Bishop of Strasburg, whose nephew (Werner II.) was the first to assume the title of "Count of Habsburg." His great-grandson, Albrecht II., assumed the title of "Landgraf of Sundgau." His grandson, Albrecht IV., in the thirteenth century, laid the foundation of the greatness of the House of Habsburg, of which the imperial family of Austria are the representatives.

Hackell's Coit A vast stone near Stantin Drew, in Somersetshire; so called from a tradition that it was a coit thrown by Sir John Hautville. In Wiltshire three huge stones near Kennet are called the Devil's coits.

Hackney Horses Not thoroughbred, but nearly so. They make the best roadsters, hunters and carriage horses; their action is showy, and their pace good. A first-class roadster will trot a mile in 2 minutes. Some American trotters will even exceed this record. The best hackneys are produced from thoroughbred sires mated with halfbred mares. (French, haguenée; the Romance word haque the Latin equus; Spanish, hacanéa.)
    In ordinary parlance, a hackney, hackney-horse, or hack, means a horse "hacked out" for hire.