Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 16.djvu/61

 HIDALGO

45

HOPKINS

Lady Herbert was the daughter of General Charlea A'Court, who was a member of Parliament as well as a soldier, while her uncle, who afterwards became Lord Heytesbury, was British ambassador at St. Peters- burg. At the age of twenty-four EUzabeth A'Court, who moved in the best circles of early Victorian so- ciety, married one of the most promising and inde- pendent of the young politicians of the day, Sidney Herbert, the second son of the Earl of Pembroke. Naturally the wife made herself the sharer of her hus- band's interests. In the forties she was an ardent Peelite and, when young Herbert was made Secretary of War during the Crimean campaign, she became the ally and ardent helper of Florence Nightingale. In IStil Sidney Herbert, shortly after being created Baron Herbert of Lea, died, leaving her a widow with four sons and three daughters. Two of her sons suc- ceeded to the Earldom of Pembroke but only one of her children, who afterwards became by marriage Lady Mary von Hiigcl, followed Lady Herbert in her change of faith. This took place at Palermo in 1866 and was largely due to the influence of Mamiing, who had been the friend both of herself and of her hus- band. From the time of her conversion Lady Her- bert became the centre and most zealous promoter of all Catholic charities and interests. The pen more cspeciallj' was consecrated to the cause, and for many years she produced a large number of books in rapid succession, partly original and partly translations, which found for the most part a ready sale. Among the best known of these may be mentioned: "Impres- sions of Spain" (1866); "Cradle Lands", i. e. Egypt and Palestine (1867); "Wives and Mothers of the Olden Time" (1871); "Wayside Tales" (ISSO). Be- sides these there were several stories, some of them autobiographical and a number of Lives, mostly translated or abbreviated from French originals, e. g. those of St. Monica, St. John Baptist de Rossi, Mgr. Dupanloup, Garcia Moreno, Mgr. de Merode, etc. Lady Herbert was a familiar figure in Rome, which she visited annually until almost the close of her long life. Apart, from many autobio)^aphical details incidentallv included in her writings, see also The Tablet (4 and 11 Nov., 1911).

Herbert Thurston.

Hidalgo, MiGrEL, b. on the ranch of San Vicente in the district of Guanajuato, 8 May, 17.53; executed at Chihuahua, 30 July, 1811. Hidalgo studied in the city of Valladolid, the present Morelia, and was or- dained priest in 1778. He occupied the chair of theolog}' and was later named rector of the College of San Nicholas, and finally appointed parish priest of Dolores in the state of Guanajuato. The town is now known as Dolores Hidalgo. He was a good French scholar and had read Rousseau, Beccaria, and Montesquieu. Manuel Abad y Queipo, afterwards canon and Bishop-elect of Michoacdn, also an ad- mirer of the French writers, was his warm friend, and, owing to their partiality for these writers, the Inqui- sition instituted secret proceedings against them in 1800, but they were not pressed. While Hidalgo was parish priest of Dolores he encouraged the cultivation of the grape vine and silk worm.

In 1810 a general wave of unrest swept over the whole of New Spain. Napoleon's invasion of Spain had fired the patriotism of the Spaniards, revealing to the Creoles the meaning of patriotism and love of country. The taxes levied on the colonies for the benefit of the mother countn.' al.«o bred discontent. These were the im|)elling forces that led to Mexican independence. A committee was organized under the name of Academia Literaria, whose secret plan was to work to obtain independence from Spain, and after some hesitation on his part the Cura Hidalgo was induced to join it. Through the treacherj- of one of the members the committee and its workings were exi)osed to the colonial Government and the order was issued to seize all those connected with the

plot. Hidalgo was warned by Dona Josef a Ortiz of the betrayal of the committee, and without further delay he declared openly for independence on 16 Sej)t ., 1810, the day upon which Mexico celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Augmenting his forces by recruits, mostly Indians, who joined him along the line of march, and selecting the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe for his standard, Hidalgo marched to the important city of Guana- juato. After a brief struggle, the Alh6ndiga de Granaditas, where the municipal authorities and the Spanish citizens had taken refuge, was captured. Acts of violence and unwarranted pillage were com- mitted which will ever remain a stain upon the memory of the perpetrators. Hidalgo then turned toward Valladolid. Manuel Abad y Queipo, Bishop- elect of Michoacdn and former friend of Hidalgo, published an edict of excommunication against him and threatened with the same penalty, ipso jncto incurred, all those who should follow him. Several of the bishops followed his example. The historian, Miguel Migu^lez, O.S.A., remarks that "the inten- tion was to discredit Hidalgo by whatever means pos- sible, and if the latter erred in making use of religion to further the work of independence, the former were equally guilty in employing the same means to sup- press it". The fact remains that these edicts were most unfavourably received, as the oflicial deposition of Fray Sim6n de Mora, ^Iercedarian, made before the Inquisition, 20 Dec, 1810, amply bears witness.

From ValladoUd Hidalgo turned his army towards the capital, and vanquished the colonial forces, com- manded by TrujiUo and Iturbide (the future em- peror), on the mount of Las Cruces, a short distance from the City of Mexico. Notwithstanding this victory Hidalgo did not dare march on to the capital, but returned to Queretaro. He was overtaken and vanquished at Aculco by Calleja, who had come from San Luis Potosi at the urgent call of the Viceroy Venegas. The movement he had initiated had, how- ever, spread throughout a greater part of the colonial possessions. After the defeat of Aculco Hidalgo went first to ValladoUd and then to Guadalajara, where he esfabhshed his headquarters. On 14 Jan. he was defeated by Calleja in the battle of Puente Grande near Guadalajara, and he surrendered the command of the army and retired to Zacatecas, and afterwards to Saltillo. He was captured on the charge of treason at Acatita de Bajan and taken to Cjhihuahua with his followers, the principal ones being Allende, Aldama, and Jimenez, and after being degraded was shot.

Miou^LEZ, La independencia de Mixico (Madrid, 1910); AlamAn, Historia de Mixico (Mexico, 1849): P^rez Vkrdia, Compendio de la historia de Mixico (Mexico, 1911); Zarate, Mixico d traris de los sigtcs. III (Barcelona).

Camillus Crivelli.

Holar, Ancient See of. See Iceland.

Hopkins, Gerard Maxley, Jesuit and poet, b. at Stratford, near London, 28 July, 1844; d. at Dublin, 8 June, 1S,S9. His early education was received at Cholmondeley School, Highgate, where he gave evidence of fine intcllectuid endowments, scholarly tastes, and poetical gifts above the ordinary. The numerous conversions from Anglicanism to the Catholic Church in the middle of the nineteenth centur}' together with the spirit of the Oxford Move- ment were not without their effect on the young student, and in Octob<T, I8(i, he was received into the Church. In the following year he entered Balliol College, Oxford, having been prepared for his classical course by Walt<'r Pater. \'ciy soon his religious vocation manifestetl itself and he left tlu university, going to the Birmingham Oratory, where he spent a short time with Father Newman. In l.StiS he entered the Society of Jesus. After ordination he