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 HEBRON in 1540 ; and the abolition of hereditary juris- dictions by act of parliament in 1748 gave a final blow to the nominal independence of the lords of the isles. HEBRON (originally EirjatJi Aria; Arab. El-Khulil), a city of Palestine, 18 m. S. of Jeru- salem ; pop. about 5,000. Most of the inhabi- tants are Moslems ; about 50 families are Jews ; there are no resident Christians. The city stands partly on the declivities of two hills and partly in the deep and narrow valley of Mamre. At the S. extremity of the town is a mosque, which, according to the Arabs, cov- ers the cave of Machpelah, with the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their wives. The architecture of this mosque plainly indi- cates its original use as a Christian church. Hebron figures in the history of Abraham, who HECKER 601 Hebron. bought Machpelah. It was taken by Caleb at the conquest of Palestine by the Hebrews, and became the residence of David in 1055 B. C. It was recovered from the Edomites by Judas Macbabaeus, and burned by the Romans under Vespasian. In A. D. 1167 it became the seat of a Latin bishopric. It was taken by Saladin in 1187, and after an insurrection stormed by Ibrahim Pasha in 1834. HEBRUS, in ancient geography, a river of Thrace. See MARITZA. HECATJEFS, a Greek historian and geogra- pher, born in Miletus about 550 B. C., died about 476. He visited Egypt and other prov- inces of the Persian empire, Libya, Greece, Italy, and other countries. On his return he found the lonians generally meditating a revolt against Persia, which in spite of his remon- strances was carried out, and ultimately led to the Persian invasion of Greece. After the sup- pression of the revolt, Hecatseus, still high in the esteem of his countrymen, was sent as ambassador to the satrap of the great king to solicit mercy for the vanquished, in which he succeeded. He was the author of a geo- graphical work entitled Uepiodos Tfj^ or Tlepi^-y^ ai$, and of a historical one entitled Teveahoyiai, or 'laropiat. The former contained a descrip- tion of various countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa ; the latter was a prose account of the mythical history of the Greeks. Some frag- ments of these works are extant, published in various collections of Greek fragments. HECATE, a divinity of ancient Greece, who was commonly called a daughter of Perses or Perseus and Asteria. She had dominion in heaven, on earth, and in the sea, and could be- stow on mortals wealth, victory, and wisdom. This caused her to be confounded with Ceres, Rhea, Diana, and Proserpine. She was wor- shipped in Samothrace and ^Egina, and at Athens, where small statues of Hecate were placed in front of houses and at cross roads. Her favorite sacrifices were dogs, honey, and black ewe lambs. In works of art she is sometimes represented as a sin- gle being, sometimes as a three-headed monster. HECKER, Friedrieh Karl Franz, a German politician, born in Eichtersheim, Baden, Sept. 28, 1811. He early acquired dis- tinction as a lawyer and politician, and was elected to the second chamber of Baden in 1842. In 1845 he travelled with Itzstein for the purpose of disseminating radical views. At Berlin they received an order to leave Prussia in 24 hours. In the diet of 1846-'7 Hecker even opposed the liberal ministry of Bekk, and voted against taxation ; but not being sustained by his party, he resigned his seat in March, 1847. He shortly afterward availed himself of a fusion between the democrats and libe- rals to enter the assembly again. Having al- lied himself with the republican and socialist Struve, and taken an active part in a meeting at Offenburg (Sept. 12, 1847), where the radi- cal programme was drawn up, he was about to be tried for treason, but was allowed to retain his place in the chamber, where he continued to be the leader of the extreme left. He was a member of the provisional Frankfort par- liament in 1848, but as his party was here left in the minority, he became a leader with Struve of the insurrection of April in the south of Baden, the object of which was the repub- licanizing of Germany. The gathering at Do- naueschingen, however, which they announced by proclamation from Constance, proved a to-