were "a thrifty, steadfast, diligent, clear-sighted, stout-hearted line of men," and their possessions and influence went on steadily increasing. Frederick III., great-grandson of Conrad, inherited Baireuth in 1248 on the death of his brother-in-law Otto, duke of Meran-Anspach, which was obtained by purchase in 1331, and the principality of Culmbach in the same way seven years later. In 1273 Frederick got the burggraviate made hereditary in his family. He mainly contributed to bring about the election of his kinsman Rudolf to the imperial throne; he continued Rudolf's "steady helper, friend, and first man in all things to the very end," and was one of the most important and influential men in Germany at that period. He contributed greatly to increase the territory and power of his family. The greatest acquisition of all was obtained in the beginning of the fifteenth century, when Frederick, the sixth burggrave, obtained the electorate of Brandenburg in return for 400,000 gold gulders which he had lent to the Emperor Sigismund. The agreement was signed in 1415, and two years later Frederick was solemnly invested with the dignity of elector at the diet of Constance. He died in 1440, and was succeeded by his second son, Frederick.—(See Brandenburg, Electors of.)—J. T.
HÖIJER, Benjamin Carl Henrik, an eminent Swedish philosopher, was born on the 1st of June, 1767, at Klingsbo in Dalecarlia, of which place his father was the clergyman. When sixteen years old he commenced his studies at the university of Upsala, taking his philosophical degree in 1788. In Sweden, as in so many other European countries, the outbreak of the French revolution had greatly inflamed the minds of not a few, especially among the young; and Höijer threw himself with all his soul into the movement. The result was what might have been anticipated; he and his political associates were speedily branded with the obnoxious epithet of jacobins, and his own chances of advancement in the world suffered, of course, proportionably. After repeated and fruitless applications for a professorship, he left his native country in quest of some other employment, but ultimately returned to Upsala. In 1808 the chair of philosophy once more became vacant, and the dethronement of Gustavus IV occurring at that conjuncture, and opening the way to power for some of Höijer's old political associates, he obtained the great object of his ambition at last. The chair was conferred upon him; but he only enjoyed it for a brief period, his death taking place on the 13th of June, 1812. Höijer was unquestionably gifted with considerable philosophic genius; yet we are by no means inclined to rank him so highly as do many of his countrymen. Höijer principally wrote on metaphysics and æsthetics—his works on the latter theme being more valuable and important than his metaphysical speculations. Among them we may instance his "Outline of a History of the Fine Arts," and "The Eloquence of the Ancients and Moderns compared." The romantic rather than the classic school of literature possessed his sympathies. His own style of composition, however, was of the classic order, peculiarly correct and elegant; and to this circumstance, no doubt, some of his popularity may be justly ascribed.—J. J.
HOLANDA. See Hollanda.
HOLBACH, Paul Henri Dietrich, Baron d', was born in 1723 at Heidelsheim in the Palatinate. He inherited a large fortune from his father, and came young to Paris, where, or in the neighbourhood, he resided till his death. At an early age he married. His wife soon dying, he took as his second wife the sister of his first. D'Holbach owes his evil eminence to the part which he played in the religious revolution, which was the prelude to the greatest of political revolutions in France. But it ought not to be forgotten that the boldness of denial and the excesses of infidelity were provoked by corruptions the foulest, and superstitions the basest. The best guardians of a religious faith must ever be the honesty of its preachers and the purity of its professors. In France religion had two classes of assailants—the mockers, like Voltaire, who yet were strict theists; and the systematic sceptics, who rejected everything but the visible and tangible universe. Of the latter D'Holbach was a prominent leader. He wrote numerous articles in the famous Encyclopédie; translated many works, chiefly scientific, from German, and one or two from English; and then buried at all religious doctrines and institutions the terrible book, entitled "The System of Nature," and other productions of kindred character and tendency. We must not, however, accuse D'Holbach of a deliberate attempt to poison the moral being of the community. He simply was an earnest apostle of that unbounded illuminism which was the substitute for religious conviction in the last century. Persuaded that religion was the invention of priests for the thraldom of mankind, he sought to overthrow it with the weapons of science, with the light of knowledge. A man of a noble and generous nature, clothed with all public and private virtues, D'Holbach was the charm of his home, the delight of his friends, the benefactor of every one, and even ingratitude could not stay his charities. Twice a week he invited to his table D'Alembert, Diderot, Rousseau, and others of France's most illustrious literary men; and it has been insinuated that Diderot sharpened the deadliest arrows which D'Holbach shot at churches and creeds. In any case D'Holbach was altogether free from literary vanity. Whatever he wrote was veiled by a pseudonym, or published anonymously. He died on the 21st of June, 1789, just on the eve of those awful catastrophes which he had helped to prepare. His widow survived till 1814. The "System of Nature" is still the evangel of many persons, both in England and in France; and it has been praised for its talent and style by authors, such as Lord Brougham, who despise or abhor its principles. It and others of D'Holbach's books were burned by the hand of the executioner.—W. M—l.
HOLBEIN, Hans, called the Younger, was born at Augsburg in 1498; he is, after Albert Dürer, the most distinguished of the German painters of the sixteenth century, though he passed little of his time in Germany. He had perhaps, on the whole, a finer taste than the great Nuremberg painter. His father, Hans Holbein the Elder, was also a painter and the instructor of his son, who about 1516 left his native place and settled in Basle in Switzerland, where in the museum are several of his early works; he painted also some frescoes in Basle. The excellent portrait of Erasmus, now at Longford castle, the seat of Lord Radnor, belongs to this early time; but as yet generally our painter was very crude and wanting in taste in his execution. This is supposed to be the picture sent by Erasmus to Sir Thomas More as a recommendation for Holbein, and which was the cause of his settling in this country in 1526. Holbein lived for some time in Sir Thomas More's house on the Thames, but seems to have had several sitters there not of the knight's family. In 1529, apparently, the painter was presented by his patron to Henry VIII., who received him into his service at a salary of £30 a year, with a lodging in the palace and separate payment for works executed for the king. His good fortune seems to have enabled him to visit his adopted country, Basle, this year, where he had left his wife and family. He came back to England, and his growing reputation induced the magistracy of Basle in 1532 to invite him to return and settle in that city. Holbein was, however, too well situated in this country to be induced to accept their invitation; but he again visited Basle in 1538. In 1540 the barber surgeons obtained a diploma from Henry VIII. , and shortly after this the ceremony of the presentation was painted by Holbein, and this picture, having however somewhat suffered by time, is still to be seen in very good condition in the dining-hall of that company in the city; some of the heads are of rare excellence. A copy of this picture was made for James I. in 1617; it is probably that now at the College of Surgeons. The latest date on any of Holbein's pictures is 1543; it is that of the portrait of Henry VIII. at Serlby. The large picture of Edward VI. in Bridewell hospital, commonly attributed to Holbein, was executed after the death of our painter, who died in London, of the plague it is said, in 1543, still in the prime of life. His will, lately brought to light by Mr. W. H. Black, is dated October 7, 1543, and was administered on the 29th November. Old books give the death of Holbein as having occurred in 1544, while in Walpole and later works 1554 is given. There was no plague in London in 1554; there was in 1543. Holbein is chiefly distinguished as a portrait-painter, but he executed works of many classes—allegory and history, and also in wood-engraving. His "Dance of Death" and its imitations are well known. As a portrait-painter he was great. He represents the simple exact imitative school, in which the principal aim is exactness of feature; and many of his works are perfect of their class. In the royal collection at Windsor is a very remarkable set of small chalk drawings of the court of Henry VIII., of which some are most masterly and admirable. They have been published, and photographs of them are to be had at the South Kensington museum. There are also a few good
