HASLINGDEN, a market-town of Lancashire, England, is situated 7 miles §.E. of Blackburn, in a hilly district on the borders of the forest of Rossendale, and is supposed by some to derive its name from the hazel trees which at one time abounded in its neighbourhood. The town formerly stood on the slope of a hill, but the modern part, which is substantially built of stone, has been erected at its base. The parish church dedicated to St James was, with the exception of the tower, which dates from the time of Henry VIIL, rebuilt in 1780, and the whole structure was restored in 1879. Handsome schools are attached, to which there is an endowment for ten poor boys, founded in 1749. The principal other buildings are the mechanics’ institute, the town-hall, where the sessions and county court are held, and the public hall for assemblies. The woollen manufacture, formerly the staple of the town, las now been superseded by that of cotton, and there are also silk manufactures, iron-works, and size-works. In the vicinity there are collieries and quarries for stone, flags, and slate. The population of the town in 1861 was 6929, and 7698 in 1871, and that of the township was 10,109 and 12,000.
HASPE, a town of Prussia, province of Westphalia, government district of Arnsberg, and circle of Hagen, is situated in the valley of the Ennepe where the Hasper stream joins that river, and on the railway from Diisseldorf to Dortmund, 25 miles north-east of Diisseldorf. It has iron foundries, rolling mills, puddling furnaces, and manu- factures of iron, steel, and brass wares, and of machines. Haspe was raised to the rank of a town in 1874. The population in 1875 was 7930.
HASSAN, a district of Mysore, India, lying between 12° 30’ and 13° 22’ N. lat. and between 75° 32’ and 76° 58’ E. long. It is bounded on the 8. W. by the Madras dis- trict of South Kanara, and on the §. partly by the state of Coorg. The main portion of the district consists of the river basin of the Hemavati and its tributaries. It natur- ally divides into two portions, the Malnad or hill country, which includes some of the highest ranges of the Western Ghats, and the Maidan or plain country, sloping towards the south. The Hemavati, which flows into the Cauvery in the extreme south, is the great river of the district ; its most important tributary is the Yagachi. The upper slopes of the Western Ghats are abundantly clothed with magnificent forests, and wild animals of all sorts abound. Among the mineral products are kaolin, felspar, and quartz. The soil of the valleys is a rich red alluvial loam.
The area extends to 3291 square miles. The census of 1871 re- turned the inhabitants at 669,961—329,097 males and 840,864 femalcs—the Hindus numbering 650,877, Mahometans 14,460, Jains 1954, Christians 2670. Hassan town and Narsipur each con- tain more than 5000 inhabitants. The staple crops consist of rdgi, rice, tobaceo, sugar-cane, the cocoa-nut and areca-nut palms, plan- tain trees, and chillics. Coffee cultivation has been on the increase of late years. The first plantation was opened in 1843, and now there arc 155 cofice estates owned by Europeans and 9500 native holdings. The statistics of irrigation show a total of 6905 tanks in the district and 215 miles of canals. The exports are large, con- sisting chiefly of food-grains and coffee. The imports are European piece-goods, hardware of all sorts, and spices. ‘The largest. weekly fair is held at Alur, A great annual religious gathering and fair, attended by about 10,000 persons, takes place every year at Melukot. The gross revenue amounted in 1873-74 to £126,908, aml the police force (1874) numbered 470 men of all ranks, maintained at a cost of £3692. ‘There were 243 schools in 1874 aided by Government, attended by 4879 pupils, and 147 unaided with 1657 pupils. The average mean temperature of the district is 76°, and the average rainfall at Hassan town during seven years was 36 inches. In the Ghats as muchas 100 inches sometimes fall in the year. Malarious fever prevails in the Malnad during the early rains.
The real history of Hassan does not begin until the epoch of the Ballala dynasty, which lasted from the 10th till the 14th century. Their capital was at Dwaravati-pura, the ruins of which are still to be seen scattered round the village of Halebid in this district. The earlier kings professed the Jain faith, but the finest temples were erected to Siva by the later monarchs of the line. While they were at the zenith of their power the whole of southem India acknowledged their sway. After the Mahometan invasion in the 14th century, the district of Hassan ceased to exist as the seat of a metropolis, and became a remote province known as Balam. Since 1832 the district, with the rest of Mysore, has been under direct British administration.
poser, is a striking instance of the instability of fame. One of the most prolific and most celebrated composers of the 18th century, he is now all but forgotten, and his extant works rest quietly on the shelves of public libraries. He was born at Bergedorf near Hamburg, on March 25, 1699, and received his first musical education from his father. Being possessed of a fine tenor voice, he chose the theatrical career, and joined the operatic troupe conducted by Reinhard Keiser at Hamburg, the same Keiser in whose orchestra Handel had played the second violin some years before. Hasse’s success led to an engagement at the court theatre of Brunswick, and it was there that, in 1723, he made his début as a composer with the opera Antigonus. The success of this first work induced the duke to send Hasse to Italy for the completion of his studies, and in 1724 he went to Naples and placed himself under the tuition of the celebrated Porpora, with whom, however, he seems to have disagreed both as a man and as an artist. On the other hand he gained the friendship of Alessandro Scarlatti, to whom he owed his first commission for a serenade for two voices, sung at a family celebration of a wealthy merchant by two of the greatest singers of Italy, Farinelli and Signora Tesi. This event established Hasse’s fame; he soon became very popular by the name of “il caro Sassone,” and his opera Sesostrato, written for and pro- duced at the Royal Opera at Naples in 1726, made his name known all over Italy. At Venice, where he went in 1727, he and his works were received with equal favour. It was there that he became acquainted with the celebrated singer Faustina Bordoni, better known as Faustina Hasse, for she became the composer’s wife in 1730. The artist- couple soon afterwards went to Dresden, in compliance with a brilliant offer made to them by the splendour-loving elector of Saxony, Augustus II. There Hasse remained for two years, after which he again journeyed to Italy, and also in 1733 to London, in which latter city he was tempted by the aristocratic clique inimical to Handel to become the rival and antagonist of that great master. But this he modestly and wisely declined, remaining in London only long enough to superintend the rehearsals for bis opera Artaserse. All this while Faustina had remained at Dresden, the declared favourite of the public and unfortunately also of the elector, her husband, who remained attached to her, being allowed to see her only at long intervals. In 1739, after the death of Augustus IT., Hasse settled permanently at Dresden till 1763, when he and his wife retired from court service with considerable pensions. But Hasse was still too young to rest on his laurels. He went with his family to Vienna, and added several operas to the great number of his works already in existence. His last work for the stage was the opera Ruggiero, written for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand at Milan. On the same occasion a dramatic cantata by Mozart, then (1771) fourteen years old, was performed, and Hasse is said to have pro- phesied Mozart’s future greatness much in the same manner as Mozart himself predicted that of Beethoven. By desire of his wife Hasse settled at her birthplace Venice, and there he died December 23, 1783. His compositions were innumerable, including as many as 120 operas, besides oratorios, cantatas, masses, and almost every variety of instrumental music. It would be needless to criticize or
give the titles of these compositions, for most of them are,
