HASSE, Johann Adolph (1699-1783), a musical composer, is a striking instance of the instability of fame. One of the most prolific and most celebrated composers of the 18th century, he is now all but forgotten, and his extant works rest quietly on the shelves of public libraries. He was born at Bergedorf near Hamburg, on March 25, 1699, and received his first musical education from his father. Being possessed of a fine tenor voice, he chose the theatrical career, and joined the operatic troupe conducted by Reinhard Keiser at Hamburg, the same Keiser in whose orchestra Handel had played the second violin some years before. Hasse’s success led to an engagement at the court theatre of Brunswick, and it was there that, in 1723, he made his début as a composer with the opera Antigonus. The success of this first work induced the duke to send Hasse to Italy for the completion of his studies, and in 1724 he went to Naples and placed himself under the tuition of the celebrated Porpora, with whom, however, he seems to have disagreed both as a man and as an artist. On the other hand he gained the friendship of Alessandro Scarlatti, to whom he owed his first commission for a serenade for two voices, sung at a family celebration of a wealthy merchant by two of the greatest singers of Italy, Farinelli and Signora Tesi. This event established Hasse’s fame; he soon became very popular by the name of “il caro Sassone,” and his opera Sesostrato, written for and produced at the Royal Opera at Naples in 1726, made his name known all over Italy. At Venice, where he went in 1727, he and his works were received with equal favour. It was there that he became acquainted with the celebrated singer Faustina Bordoni, better known as Faustina Hasse, for she became the composer’s wife in ...

HASSELQUIST, Frederick (1722-1752), a Swedish traveller and naturalist, was born near Linkoeping in East Gothland, 3d January 1722. He lost his father at an early age, and his uncle, his sole remaining protector, in his thirteenth year, but succeeded by means of private teaching in supporting himself while continuing his education. In 1741 he entered the university of Upsala, where his taste for the study of nature was fostered and developed by Linnaeus, and where in 1747 he obtained licence in medicine, and published a thesis entitled De Viribus Plantarum. On account of the frequently expressed regrets of Linnaeus at the lack of information regarding the natural history of Palestine, Hasselquist resolved to undertake a journey to that country, and a sufficient subscription having been obtained to defray expenses, he, after making himself acquainted with the languages of the Levant, embarked for Smyrna, where he arrived November 26, 1749. He visited parts of Asia Minor, Egypt, Cyprus, and Palestine, and made large natural history collections, but his constitution, naturally weak, give way under the fatigues and anxieties of travel, and he died at Smyrna, February 9, 1752, on his way homewards. His collections reached home in safety, and five years after his death the results of his wanderings were published by Linnaeus under the title Resa till Heliya Landet forättad fraιι ar 1749 till 1752. The work is divided into two parts, the first consisting of the traveller’s journal and letters, and the second of his remarks on the botany, zoology, and mineralogy of the countries through which he passed, with observations on the prevalent diseases and their cure, and the state of industry, commerce, and the arts. It was translated into French and German in 1762, and into ...

HASSELT, a town of Belgium, capital of the province of Limburg, is situated on the Demer and on the railway from Aix-la-Chapelle to Maestricht, 20 miles north-west of Liège. It possesses two churches, a hospital, a spacious town-hall, an athenaeum, and a public library. Tobacco and madder are cultivated in the neighbourhood. The principal manufactures are linen, lace, brandy, and beer. At Hasselt the Dutch under the prince of Orange gained a victory over the Belgians under General Daine, 6th May 1831. The population in 1876 was 11,361.

HASSENPFLUG, Hans Daniel Ludwig Friedrich (1793-1862), a minister of state in Hesse-Cassel, celebrated as a reactionary, was born at Hanau, in the electorate of Hesse, in 1793. He studied law at Göttingen, and was appointed by the elector Frederick William I. (then acting as regent) to a subordinate post in that university. He rose rapidly, and proved himself a man of great resolution and energy. From the first he adopted that line of policy which made him so disliked throughout his career. He exercised, that is to say, a suspicious censorship over the press; he reduced to a shadow the power of the legislative chambers; he introduced new and harsh measures of army discipline, and contended relentlessly with all disciples of free thought. In the matter of education he showed praiseworthy zeal, and promoted as far as he could the national schools of Hesse. But the services he rendered in this way were not sufficient to induce the mass of the people to pardon the reactionary tendency of his general policy, and he was obliged in 1837 to flee from the general hatred he had encountered. He found shelter in Prussia, where the Government entrusted him with the discharge of various judicial offices, and he remained in Prussia till the full tide of reaction had set in after the year 1848, He then (1850) returned to Hesse Cassel, the ministry of the revolution of 1848 having been dismissed. Despite the fact that Hassenpflug had never freed himself from a charge of peculation brought against him in the performance of his judicial duties in Prussia, he was appointed by the elector of Hesse to the head of the new ministry. He acted at once on the old lines, levying taxes without the consent of the chambers, dissolving them when they protested, and finally proclaiming martial law. ...