In 1764 Helvetius visited England, and the next year, on the invitation of Frederick, he went to Berlin, where the king paid him marked attention. He then returned to his country estate and passed the remainder of his life in perfect tranquillity. He died in 1771 at the age of fifty- six, leaving behind him a widow, who died in 1800, and two daughters.
A sort of supplement to tlio De VEsprit, called DC Tllomme, de sesfacultes intcllcducllcs et de son education, was found among his manuscripts after his death, and was published, but created little interest. Editions of the work, however, appeared in 1772, 1773, and 1786. The complete works of Helvetius were published in 1774, 1777, 1781, 1794, 1795, and 1818. The best estimate of his work and place among the philosophers of the 18th century is that by Cousin ((Euvrcs, ii.).
HELVIDIUS PRISCUS lived in the 1st century, during the reigns of Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. In those evil days he won the respect of all good men by his fearless love of freedom. Among the cringing and obsequious senators of Rome he dared to be sincere and outspoken. Tacitus says of him (Hist,, iv. 5) that in his early youth he devoted his great abilities to the highest pursuits, and made it his object to enter on public life with a spirit thoroughly fortified against all contingencies. It was natural that such a man should be a warm adherent of the Stoic school of philosophy. His father-in-law, Thrasea Pcetus, had been the same ; he had been driven to suicide in Nero s reign, and his last words to Helvidius were " Young man, you have been born into times in which it is well to brace the spirit with examples of courage" (Tacitus, Annals, xvi. 35). Although he repeatedly offended the emperor, he held several high offices. During Nero s reign he was qucestor in the province of Achaia ; he was also sent into Armenia in command of a legion, and by his good sense and moderation he succeeded in restoring peace and order in that country. By the provincials he was respected and trusted. His well-known sympathies with such men as Brutus and Cassius occasioned his banishment in 66 a.d., and he lived with his wife Fannia in Macedonia until Nero s death. Having been recalled to Rome by Galba in 68 a.d., he at once impeached Eprius Marcellus, one of the most villanous of the informers, and the very man who had been the accuser of Thrasea P<etus. After an angry debate he dropped the charge, as the condemnation of Marcellus would have involved a host of senators in like ruin. As praetor-elect he had once the courage to oppose Vitellius in the senate, and again as prsetor in the following year he ventured to argue against the financial policy of Vespasian. Such matters, he maintained, ought to be left to the discretion of the senate. He proposed that the Capitol, which had been destroyed in the Neronian con flagration, should be restored at the public cost. It would seem that he rather perversely went out of his way to insult Vespasian, saluting him by his private name, and not recognizing him as emperor in the edicts he had to publish as praetor. There was very possibly in all this some of the affectation which often characterized the Stoics. The end of it was that he was banished, his wife Fannia, whose constancy and virtue are highly commended by his friend the younger Pliny, going with him into exile. Shortly afterwards he was executed by Vespasian s order. His life was written at his widow s request by Herennius Senecio ; it took the form of a warm panegyric, and proved fatal to its author in the reign of Domitian.
HELVOETSLUYS (in Dutch, Hellevoetsluis}, a fortified town of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, situated in the south of. the island of Voorne-and-Putten, on the shore of the Haringvliet. It possesses a good harbour, a dry and a wet dock, extensive wharves, and a naval arsenal, and among its more important public build ings are the communal chambers, the Reformed church dating from 1661–1684, the Roman Catholic church, the synagogue, and the naval college. The population was only 1208 in 1795; by 1840 it had increased to 2523, and by 1874 it was 4135.
Helvoetsluys was founded in the 17th century. The construction of the dock was decreed by the states of Holland in 163P, and the erection of the fortifications in 1638 ; but it was not till 1696 that the works were completed. The new harbour soon became an im portant rendezvous for the Dutch fleet, and in 1688 it was the starting-point of William of Orange s expedition to England.
HELYOT, Pierre (1660–1716), monastic historian, was born at Paris in January 16 GO, of supposed English descent. After spending his youth in study, he entered in his twenty, fourth year the convent of the third order of St Francis, founded at Picpus, near Paris, by his uncle Jerome Helyot, canon of St Sepulchre. There he took the name of Pere Hippolyte. Two journeys to Rome on monastic business afforded him the opportunity of travelling over most of Italy; and after his final return he saw much of France, while acting as secretary to various provincials of his order there. Both in Italy and France he was engaged in collecting materials for his great work, which occupied him about twenty-five years, L Histoire des Ordres Monastiques, Religieux, et Jfilitaires, et des Congregations Seculieres, de Van et de I autre Sexe, qui ont ete etaUies jusqu cfc present^ published in 8 volumes in 1714-21. Helyot died on January 5, 1716, before the fifth volume appeared, but his friend Maximilian Bullot completed the edition. This work, appearing at first anonymously, has been republished several times, and translated into German. Helyot s only other noteworthy work is Le Chretien Mourant (1695).
