HAASE. 422 HABEAS CORPUS. HAASE, Heinrich Gottlob Friedrich Chris- tian (1808-67). A German classical pliilologist, born at Magdeburg. Prussia. After studying at Halle, Greitswald, ami Berlin, he made extensive researclies in the libraries of Paris, Heidelberg, Strassburg, and Bern, in the Greek and Koman military writers. He was made professor of philology at the University of Breslau in 1840, and in 1851 became co-director of the Philological Seminary at the same institution, where he re- mained until his death. His most important publications are editions of Xenophon, De Repuh- hcft Laccdccmonioruni (1833); Thucydides, with a Latin translation (1840) ; Vellejiis Paterculus, Eistoria Romanu (1851 and 1858): Seneca (1852-5.'!); and Tacitus, with admirable pro- legomena (1855). Mention should be made of his article "Philologie," in Ersch and Grubers Allgeincine Encylclopiidie, and his Die athenische Stammverfassuxg (1857). His Vorlesiin!)e>i iiher lateinische SprachiLissc>ischaft (1874-80) was edited after his death by A. Eckstein and Her- mann I'eler, and greatly stimulated research in the field of Latin philology. Consult: Bursian, Geschichte dcr Idassischen Philologie in Dculsch- land (Munich, 1883), and Fickert, Friderici Haasii Memoria (Breslau, 1868). HAAST, Sir John Frascis .Julius (known in Germany as Julius von Haast) (1822-87). An English colonial geologist and explorer, born at Bonn, Germanj^ His scientific training was obtained through studj' at the L^niversity of Bonn and extended Continental travel. In 1858 he went to New Zealand, where in the following year he was appointed by the Provincial Govern- ment to conduct explorations of Nelson, and prepare reports on the natural history and geol- ogy' of the region. During the execution of this task he discovered fields of coal and gold. He became Governor-General of Canterbury Province in 1861, and as such he directed a ten years' exploration of the interior of the island. His topographical and geological maps Won for him the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society. He also discovered the remains of the gigantic extinct birds Dinoriiis and I'ulapieryx. As an authority on glaciation he was well known in scientific circles. He was elected (18G7) to a fellowship in the Eoyal Society, and published Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and West- land (1879). HABAK'KUK. The eighth of the minor prophets. Concerning his'life absolutely nothing is known. Legends about Habakkuk are plenti- ful in the later Apocrypluil literature. In Bel and llie Dragon (q.v.), for example, Habakkuk is ordered to bring food to Daniel in the lion's den, and in order to carry out this command, an angel seizes Habakkuk by the hair and trans- ports liim to Babylon. The etymology of the strange name, which has not a Hebrew sound, is unknown. The Book of Habakkuk consists of two parts: (1) Chapters i. and ii., which deal with the tlireat^ned Clialdean invasion of .Judea. The book opens with a dialogue between the prophet and God. The prophet complains of the preva- lence of iniquity and violence among the Jews. God replies, thre.ntening to punish them by allowing the Chaldeans to come against them. The prophet then humbly expostulates with God for using, as an instrument in punish- ing the Jews, a nation more guilty than themselves. God again replies, intimating that the pride of the Chaldeans will lead to their downfall, and promising aid to the righteous. The destruction of the Bab}'lonian Empire is fore- told with attending judgments on the Chaldeans for their covetous exaltation of themselves on the ruin of others; their murderous violence in build- ing up their cities; their enticement of men to drunkenness as a means for effecting their fall ; and their extension of idolatrous worsliip. (2) Chapter iii., called the prayer of Habakkuk, but in reality a sublime Ij'ric ode, expressive of con- fidence that God will execute vengeance on His people's enemies. It opens with a prayer that God will give" increased energy to His promised work of mercy reaching through the ages. God is praised for His interposition in behalf of His people in Eg^'pt, at the Red Sea, and in the promised land. Confidence is expressed that, in times of utmost want and peril. He will give triumphant deliverance Internal evidence en- ables us to fix the date of the book at the time when the Xeo-Babylonian Empire founded by the Chaldean Xabopolassar c.625 B.C. had assumed a commanding position, and was already threat- ening to engulf .Tudea (cf. i. 6). Since the Chal- deans actuall}' began to invade Palestine c.GOl B.C., we are thus brought to the end of the seventh century as the approximate date for the first two chapters. Whether the third chapter, so totally different in character, belonged to the book originally is an open question, and the gen- eral trend of scholarly opinion is to regard it as an independent poem of uncertain date, which has been attached to chaps, i. and ii. because it seemed to accord with the subject treated in the latter. Consult the commentaries on the Minor Prophets (q.v.) ; Delitzseh, De Habakkuk Pro- phetce Vita atque JUtate (Leipzig, 1842) ; id., Der Prophet Habakkuk ausgelegt (ib., 1843) ; for chapter iii.. see Cheyne. on the Psalter (Bamp- ton Lectures, London, 1888). HAB'BEBTON, John (1842—). An Ameri- can editor and miscellaneous writer, born in Brooklyn. He was educated in southern Illinois, then learned the printing trade in Xew York; served in the Civil War. and did editorial work for the Christian Union, Godey's Magazine, and the New Vork Herald. He became well known through Helen'.<! Babies (1876), widely circulated in America, England, France, and Germany, a slight but amusing account of childish precocity. Among liis other works may be mentioned : The Barton Experiment (1877) : Other People's Chil- dren (1877); a drama. Deacon Cranket; The Chautaiiquans (1891): All He Knew (repub- lished 1900) ; and The Tiger and the Insect (1902). HA'BEAS COR'PUS. Any one of several com- mon-law writs which issue out of a court of jus- tice, or (in England) are awarded by a judge in vacation, and require the body of a person to be brought before the judge or into the court for some purpose specified in the writ. The name arises from the emphatic words habeas corpus ('have the body') which occur in the writs so i-alled. In the broadest inclusion, besides the writs now commonly so called, the writ known as capias (q.v.) is covered by the term habeas cor-
