HICKS, Francis, was born in 1566 at Tredington in Worcestershire, and received his education at St. Mary's hall, Oxford. He is known as the translator of Lucian, Thucydides, and Herodian, of which the first only has appeared in print. It was published by his son, Thomas, chaplain of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1634; the editor added a Life of Lucian, and notes. Thomas Hicks died at an early age in 1634. His father's MSS. of Herodian and Thucydides were presented by him to Christ Church.—W. C. H.
HICKS, William, a fifth-monarchy man; he was born in Cornwall in 1620, studied at Exeter and Liskeard schools, and at Wadham college, Oxford, which he left to join the parliamentary forces. He became captain of a trainband, but died in 1659. He wrote "Revelation Revealed," being a practical exposition of the Revelation of St. John, in 1659, with a new title and portrait in 1661. To this work was added a dissertation on the Fifth Monarchy.—B. H. C.
HICKS, William, a person of obscure origin, became known in the early part of Charles II.'s reign as Captain Hicks. At some period of his life he seems to have kept an inn. His name is celebrated as the compiler of "Oxford Jests," 1669, 1671, &c.; "Oxford Drollery," 1679; "Grammatical Drollery," 1682; and "Coffee-house Jests," 3rd ed. 1684. His share in "Grammatical Drollery," however, the late Dr. Bliss considered doubtful.—W. C. H.
HIEROCLES: the name of several persons mentioned by ancient authors, of whom the most important is Hierocles, referred to by A. Gellius as a stoic. He is thought by some to be the same as Hierocles of Hyllarima, mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium as having been first an athlete and then a philosopher. To one of these is ascribed the Œconomicus and other works quoted by Stobæus. An extant commentary upon Pythagoras bears the name of Hierocles, of whom Suidas says he was a philosopher at Alexandria, whither he had retired from Byzantium. His work has been often printed, and is a valuable key to the Pythagorean philosophy. It was first published in 1583. There are numerous fragments, with various titles, which mostly appear to belong to a work called "Philosophumena;" although some of them may have been written by Hierax, rather than by Hierocles. Suidas mentions, and Photius analyses, a work on Providence, &c.; but it may be the same as the preceding. Nearly all that bears the name of Hierocles is to be found in the editions of Pearson and Needham. There is another book of Facetiæ, which bears the name of Hierocles; but which of that name is uncertain. The Hierocles who wrote on Fate, Providence, &c., belongs to the fifth century.—B. H. C.
HIERON I. succeeded on the throne of Syracuse his brother Gelon, who died 478 b.c. The beginning of his reign contrasted unfavourably with that of his predecessor. He was accessible to flattery, betrayed a suspicious and cruel disposition, and surrounded himself with strangers and mercenaries; but his conduct, in the latter years of his reign, when he found himself securely established upon the throne, appears to have been distinguished by many redeeming qualities. Among those in whose society he delighted, were the poets Simonides and Pindar, Bacchylides, Epicharmis, and Æschylus. Pindar celebrates his victories at the Olympic games, and Xenophon gives the title of Hieron to his dialogue on the condition of kings. He died 467 b.c., at Catana, where he received divine honours.—G. BL.
HIERON II., who reigned about two centuries after the preceding, was the son of Hierocles, a wealthy citizen of Syracuse. By his courage and manly accomplishments he greatly distinguished himself under Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, who was then master of Sicily. When Pyrrhus abandoned the island, leaving it in a state of anarchy, Hieron, whose father pretended to be descended from Gelon, was elected by the Syracusans to the chief command. He conducted himself with skill and prudence, and soon succeeded in securing for himself the name and position of king. It was at the beginning of the reign of this prince that the first Punic war broke out. Hieron, who had taken part with the Carthaginians, was defeated by the consul, Appius Claudius; and finding himself shut up in Syracuse, he formed a treaty of peace and alliance with Rome, to which he faithfully adhered throughout the rest of his life. He wisely devoted himself to the development of the resources of his kingdom, and established a code of laws, the wisdom and equity of which are highly extolled by Cicero. His judicious measures brought him great wealth, which he dispensed liberally in cultivating a good understanding with all parties. His alliance with the Romans did not prevent him from assisting the Carthaginians during the revolt of the mercenaries; but when the second Punic war broke out, and the Romans were defeated by Hannibal at the battle of Thrasymene, Hieron, faithful in their adversity, sent to them ambassadors, with provisions, men, and arms. Even the fatal battle of Cannæ, which was followed by the defection of all the other allies of Rome, did not shake Hieron's fidelity. He was also a liberal patron of men of science; and with the assistance of Archimedes he constructed large ships and formidable implements of war, which he sent to the assistance of his allies. Hieron lived to ninety years of age, and died 214 b.c.—G. BL.
HIERON, Samuel, a celebrated English puritan preacher and divine, was born in 1572 at Epping in Essex, and studied at Cambridge. He died at Modbury in Devonshire (of which he was many years the rector) in the year 1617. His works are voluminous, and were at one time very popular. They are still valued by the admirers of the old puritan divinity.—B. H. C.
HIERONYMUS, a native of Cardia, or Cardiopolis, in the Thracian Chersonesus, was a contemporary of the immediate successors of Alexander of Macedon. Hieronymus of Cardia, according to Gerard Vossius, is a distinct person from Hieronymus of Rhodes, the disciple of Aristotle, and Hieronymus of Egypt, governor of Syria under Antiochus Soter, and author of a history of Phœnicia mentioned by Josephus, though no longer known. The Thracian Hieronymus wrote "Historical Memoirs of the Successors of Alexander the Great," of which Diodorus Siculus is supposed to have availed himself. The original work is now lost.—W. C. H.
HIERONYMUS. See Jerome.
HIFFERNAN, Paul, was born in the county of Dublin in 1719. He was educated for the Roman catholic priesthood, and sent to a college in the south of France. After seventeen years' residence there he returned to practise medicine in Dublin. His indolence and love of pleasure forbade his success in his profession, but his learning and agreeable manners made him a social favourite. He next took to writing, and published a periodical called the Tickler, in opposition to the celebrated Dr. Lucas. Going to London in 1753, he published several numbers of the Tuner, in which he ridiculed with some humour several of the popular dramas of the day; translated from the French and Latin; did "hack" work, and published "Miscellanies" in prose and verse. He made the acquaintance of Garrick and Murphy, turned to dramatic writing, and produced "The Heroine of the Cave," which had fair success at Drury Lane, where also the "New Hippocrates" was acted in 1761. Four others complete the list of his dramas. His life was passed in indolence, and many amusing, though not very creditable anecdotes, are told of his levying contributions on his friends. He died in a little court off St. Martin's Lane in June, 1777.—J. F. W.
HIGDEN, Ralph, an English chronicler, was a benedictine monk of St. Werberg's, Chester, and died there about 1370, after a residence of more than sixty years. He has been credited with a share in the authorship of the Chester Mysteries, but this, like the date of their composition, is a matter of dispute. The work by which he is remembered is the "Polychronicon," a chronicle commencing with the creation of the world and coming down to the year 1357. A greater interest than that possessed by the original work belongs to the translation of it, executed by John de Trevisa, which is one of the earliest of English prose compositions, and which with additions and partial modernization of the language Caxton printed in 1482.—F. E.
HIGGINS, HIGINS, or HIGGONS, John, as the name is found variously spelt, a person in holy orders, and a schoolmaster at Winsham in Somersetshire, was born perhaps at that place, or in the neighbourhood, about 1545. He finished his studies at Oxford, went into the church, and engaged in the duties of a preceptor of youth at Winsham. Higgins published for the use of his scholars a book called the Flosculi of Terence; also Holcot's Dictionarie newlie corrected, 1572, folio; and thirdly, the Nomenclator of Adrian Junius, translated in conjunction with Abraham Fleming, London, 1585, 8vo. Several years before the appearance of the Nomenclator, we have it upon the authority of the author that he had been projecting a new edition of the Mirror for Magistrates, a popular work, which had passed through several editions since 1559, the date of its original publication; but for some reason unexplained
