HECKER
186
HECKER
of ancient architecture in Palestine, and has Ijeen
admired since the time of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux
(fourth centiu-y). In the opinion of many it is of
Jewish origin and dates from the time of the kings of
Juda (cf. Legendre in Vig., "Diet, de la Bible", s. v.
Hebron). Consult Riant, "Archives", II, 412, for
a Ust of the few travellers who, diu-ing the nineteenth
century, were able to visit this sanctuary so fanatic-
ally guarded by the Mussulmans. In 1S62 the pres-
ent King of England, then Prince of Wales, and in
1869 the Crown Prince of Prus.sia, later Frederick III,
were among the visitors. The trade of the town is
much the same as in all Arab countries. The compara-
tive fertility of the soil and an abundance of water
contribute to increase this trade, which consists
mainly in the making of goat-.skin water bags, jars,
and especially gla.ss ware for which, for centuries,
Hebron has used a soda extracted from the trans-
ligious faith; his wife, who had originally been a
Lutheran, became an ardent Methodist; none of the
three children, all boys, ever joined any of the Prot-
estant sects. A reverse in the family fortune made
it necessary for Isaac, who was the youngest of the
sons, to begin work at the age of eleven, helping his
elder brothers in their business as bakers. His conse-
quent want of e\en a complete common-school educa-
tion woukl have been a serious and iiermanent impedi-
ment to any future intellectual work had he not been
a studious, thoughtful boy, instinctively eager for
knowledge. Even while kneading the dough in the
bakery he studied Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason",
which he had fixed conveniently before his eyes. His
mind was original, intuitive, and prone to seek the
hidden solution of the grave prol)lenis of philosophy
and of life. .\s a lad, he was anxious to inijirove the
social condition of American workingmen. While
Hebron with Mosqu£ oi"er Cave of M.\chpelah
Jordan regions. The \nneyards around the town are
very fine; they belong mainly to the Jews who trade
in dried raisins, and manufacture a sjTup and an ex-
cellent wine, known as Heljron wine. Of late years
the Russians have contrived to get a foothold at El-
KJialil, and they have now a hostelry at the entrance
to the town.
.\ complete bibliography of Hebron would mean a lengthy enumeration; the principal works alone will be mentioned here. GcERiN, Description de la Judt^e, III. 214-256: Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, II. 73-94: C'onder and Kitch- ener, Memoirs of a Survey of Western Palestine, III, 305-S: 333-46: Thomson. The Land and the Book, I: Southern Pales- tine (London. 1881). 26S-82: Rosen. Ueber das That und die ndehste Umgebung Hebrons in Zeitschrift des deutschen morgcnl. Gesellschaft, XII. 477: Legendre in Vig., Diet, de la Bible, s. v. On its Christian histor>-, see the works referred to in the body of this article; Lequien, Du Cange, Eubel. and the historians of the Crusades at places indicated: also, for both epochs. Sau- vaire, H istoire de J erusalem ei d' Hebron depuis Abraham jxtsqu'a la fin du X V' siecle de J. C. (Paris, 1876). containing fragments of the chronicle of Moudjired-din, translated from the .\rabic text.
S. S.*.L.A.\1LLE.
Hecker, Isaac Thomas, missionary, author, foun- der of the Paulists; b. in Xew York, 18 December, 1819; d. there, 22 Dec, 1888. His parents were John Hecker, a native of Wetzlar, and CaroUne Freund, of Elberfeld, Prussia. John Hecker professed no re-
still in his e;irly teens he was accustomed to make
street speeches on politico-social topics, and before he
liecame of age, he w;is a friend and correspondent of
Orestes A. Brownson, who was already famous as a
philosopher and social reformer. Along with his keen
sense for practical alTairs, yovnig Hecker was then, as
always, predominantly mystical, and of a profoundly
religious temperament. Perhaps because his reli-
gious sentiments were instinctively C;itliolic, he was
repelled by the teachings of Luther and Calvin. Their
doctrines of the total depravity of human nature and
of the necessary sinfulness of reason were especially
repugnant to him. On the other hand, becoming
acquainted with the Transcendentalists, he found that
they overexalted human nature. Driven from both
extremes he sought religious truth re.stle.ssly until he
became convinced of the Divinity of the Catholic
Faith. He was baptized by Bishop McCloskey, in
New York January, 1S44. Once within the Catholic
Church, he was powerfully attracted by the ideal of
religious life in community, while his ever-increasing
consciousness of a vocation to help his fellow-men
drew him towards the apostolic priesthood. To sat-
isfy both demands of his soul, he applied for admission
into the Redemptorist commimity. He entered their
novitiate in Belgium in 1845.
