HOLOTHURIA-HOLSTEIN. bone, in numerous layers, arranged alternately at right angles to each other, and the outside was covered with a bright glossy corrugated enamel. The spines of the fins were large and hollow; the bones were partially ossified; the centre remained in its original cartilaginous condition, and consequently appears hollow in the fossil. The jaws were covered with hard enamel instead of skin, and were furnished with a double row of teeth; the outer row, placed along the edge of the mouth, were small and thickly set; the inner range were widely set, and very large, at least twenty times the bulk of the others. The specimen figured was obtained at Holoptychius Nobilissimus (Agass.). Clashbennie, on the Firth of Tay, by Mr Noble; it now forms part of the British Museum collection. It is a foot across by two feet and a half long without the tail, which is wanting. It is nearly perfect, lying on its back, with the scales and the ventral fins in their original position. The genus is peculiar to the Old Red Sandstone and Carboniferous Measures; eight species being found in the former, and nine in the latter. It has been proposed to confine the name Holoptychius to the fossils of the Old Red Sandstone, and to give that of Rhizodus, which Owen applied to the teeth remains before their connection with the fish was known, to the Holoptychians of the Coal Measures, which have the outer row of teeth more robust and obtuse, and the inner set longer, sharper, and more slender than in the older species. HOLOTHURIA, a genus of Echinodermata Holothuria : a, H. phantapus; b, buccal appendages of H. phantapus; e, H. papillosa; d, an isolated branch of the buccal appendages of H. papillosa; e, H. cucumis; f, H. vittata. (q. v.), the former limits of which are now those of a family, Holothuridae, divided into numerous genera. SEA-SLUG and SEA-CUCUMBER are popular names of some of the animals of this family. The Holo. thuride have not the covering of calcareous plates characteristic of the more typical Echinodermata, but a soft leathery muscular integument, very irritable, and capable of great distention and contraction. Some of them are almost globose, some so much elongated as to be almost worm-like; but the same individual is often capable of extending itself to several times the length which it has in a state of repose. In locomotion, the body is extended and contracted as by the annelides, but the principal organs of locomotion, as in star-fishes and sea-urchins, are suckers or Ambulacra (q. v.), of which there are usually five double rows, whilst sometimes they are distributed over the whole surface of the body; but some of the species have the suckers developed only on a disc, and the body then presents an upper and an under surface. The radiate structure is most apparent in the mouth, which is surrounded with tentacles, in number always a multiple of five, exhibiting great variety of beautiful forms, and capable of being com-. pletely retracted. Little is known of the food of the Holothuridae, which, however, probably consists of small marine animals. Within the opening of the mouth there is a circle of teeth. There is no proper stomach. The intestine is often very complicated. The respiratory organs are near the anus, and consist of branching tubes. The organs of both sexes are found in each individual. The young pass through several stages or transformations, in which they are very unlike their parents; in their first stage, after leaving the egg, they swim vigorously by means of membranous expansions of the body. The Holothuride are capable of the most extraordinary reproduction of parts, even of the most important organs. They are found in all seas, but particularly abound in the Red Sea, and between the south of Asia and Australia. The largest European species, H. (Cucumaria) frondosa, occasionally found in the British seas, is about a foot in length, and capable of extending itself Most of the British species are to three feet. small, and they are not of a pleasing appearance as they usually come under observation, although the expanded tentacles give them beauty in their proper abodes. But many of the tropical species exhibit splendid colours, and are among the creatures which make the bottom of the sea, particularly among coral reefs and islands, gay and lovely as a garden. The Bêche-de-mer (q. v.), or Trepang, so much esteemed as a delicacy by the Chinese, belongs to this family. HO'LSTEIN, a duchy of Northern Germany, belonging to the kingdom of Denmark, and at the same time a member of the Germanic Confederation. It is separated from Slesvig on the N. by the river Eyder and the Slesvig-Holstein Canal; is bounded on the E. by the Baltic Sea, the territory of Lübeck, and the duchy of Lauenburg; on the S. by the Hamburg territory and the river Elbe, which separates it from Hanover; and on the W. by the North Sea. Area, 3270 square miles; pop. 544,419. The principal rivers, besides the Elbe and the Eyder, are the Stör and the Trave. Of the surface of the land, one-eighth consists of marshes. The central districts of the province are occupied by an undulating plain, varied by low hills, and traversed from north to south by a heathy and sandy ridge, from which the land falls away gradually on the east-where the surface is varied by lakes and fertile well-wooded valleys and on the west. The soil, with the exception of several HOLSTERS-HOLY ISLAND. tracts of sand and heath, is very fruitful, and is most luxuriant in the marshes. The climate and natural productions closely resemble those of similar districts in the north of Germany. Salt and lime are the only minerals found. Amber is obtained on the eastern coast, and the interior abounds in peat. The manufactures of H. are inconsiderable; agriculture and the rearing of cattle are the chief employments of the people. The history of H. and its political relations are noticed in the article SLESVIG-HOLSTEIN. HOLSTERS, cases for pistols affixed to the pommel of a saddle. They are frequently covered with wool or fur, to prevent injury to the rider in the event of his being thrown forward upon them. HOLY ALLIANCE, a league formed after the fall of Napoleon by the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, nominally to regulate the relations of the states of Christendom by the principles of Christian charity, but really to preserve the power and influence of the existing dynasties. Most of the other European rulers acceded to it, and the treaty was formally made public in the Frankfurt Journal, February 2, 1816. It was in virtue of this league that Austria, in 1821, crushed the revolutions in Naples and Piedmont, and that France, in 1823, restored absolutism in Spain. Subsequently, both France and England seceded, after which it became a mere nominis umbra. A special article of the treaty excluded for ever the members of the Bonaparte family from any European throne! HOLY COAT, a relic preserved with the greatest reverence in the cathedral of Treves, of which city it is esteemed the greatest treasure. It is alleged to be the seamless coat of our Saviour, and to have been discovered in the 4th c. by the Empress Helena, in her memorable visit to Palestine, and by her deposited at Treves. The Treves relics were The Holy Coat of Treves. concealed from the Normans in the 9th c. in crypts; but the Holy Coat was rediscovered in 1196, and then solemnly exhibited to the public gaze, which did not take place again till 1512, when multitudes flocking to see and venerate it, Leo X. appointed it to be exhibited every seven years. The Reformation and wars prevented the regular observance of this great religious festival; but it was celebrated in 1810, and was attended by a concourse of no fewer than 227,000 persons; and in 1844 by still greater multitudes, whilst miraculous cures were confidently asserted to be performed by the precious relic. The exhibition of the Holy Coat in 1844 is otherwise memorable for the reaction which it produced, leading to the secession of Rongé and the German Catholics from the Church of Rome.-For further information see The Book of Days, published by W. & R. Chambers. HOLY FAMILY, the name given, in the language of art, to every representation of the infant Saviour and his attendants. In the early part of the middle ages, when the object in view was to excite devotion, the Virgin and Child were usually the only persons represented. At a later period, Joseph, Elizabeth, St Anna (the mother of the Virgin), and John the Baptist, were included. Some of the old German painters have added the twelve apostles as children and playfellows of the infant Christ, as well as their mothers, as stated in the legends. The Italian school, with its fine feeling for composition, was the first to recognise of how many figures the group must consist, if the interest is to remain undivided, and be concentrated on one figure, whether that figure be the Madonna or the Child. Two masters are pre-eminent in this species of representation-Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. HOLY GHOST, or HOLY SPIRIT, in Orthodox Theology, the third person of the Trinity (q. v.), proceeding from the Father and the Son, yet of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God. His distinct personality is believed to be attested by a multitude of passages in Scripture, which it is unnecessary to quote. One may suffice: But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me' (John xv. 26). The 'Procession' (q. v.) of the Spirit is the subject of one of the chief differences between the Eastern and the Western or Latin Churches. He is essentially a spirit of holiness, and his grand function is to apply to the hearts of men the benefits of Christ's death, to work in them, first, a belief of the truth as it is in Jesus, and then to sanctify them by that truth. HOLY GRASS (Hierochloe borealis), a grass about a foot high, with a brownish glossy lax panicle. It is found in the most northern parts of Britain, and in the north of Europe. It has a sweet smell, like that of vernal grass; and in Iceland, where it is plentiful, it is used for scenting apartments and clothes. In some countries, it is strewed on the floors of places of worship on festival-days, whence its name. HOLY ISLAND, or LINDISFA'RNE, a small island of England, belonging to the county of Northumberland, and situated about ten miles south-east of Berwick-on-Tweed. It is about four miles long, and two miles broad, and is connected with the mainland by sands three miles in extent, which can be traversed at low-water by vehicles of all kinds. Pop. of parish, 614; but including the chapelries of Kyloe, Ancroft, and Tweedmouth, all in the ancient parish, and called Islandshire4049. On the south coast is the village of Holy Island, finely situated, and now much resorted to On the island are several by summer visitors. ruins, the chief of which are the extensive and HOLY LAND-HOLY SEPULCHRE. sombre-looking remains of the famous Abbey of Lindisfarne, originally a Saxon edifice; there is also an ancient castle, now fortified and occupied by a party of artillery. In former times, H. I. was the seat of a bishopric. HOLY LAND. See PALESTINE. HOLY PHIAL, or SAINTE AMPOULE, ORDER OF, the name of an order of knighthood which formerly existed in France, and was composed of four persons, usually the first in point of rank, family, and fortune in the province of Champagne, and styled Barons de la Sainte Ampoule. At the coronation of the French kings, they were delivered to the Dean, Priors, and Chapter of Rheims, as hostages for the fulfilment of the engagements entered into by the great officers of the crown to return the holy phial in which the coronation oil was kept, and which, according to the legend, was brought from heaven by the Holy Ghost under the form of a dove, and put into the hands of St Remy at the coronation of Clovis-an enormous crowd having prevented the messenger from bringing in time that which had already been prepared. The peculiarity of this order was that the knights were only knights for a day. Their badge was a cross of gold enamelled white, cantoned with four fleur-de-lis, and on the cross a dove descending with a phial in its beak, and a right hand receiving it. HOLY PLACES, HOLY SEPULCHRE. Under the head JERUSALEM (q. v.) are enumerated many localities which, from the memories associated with them, must be full of solemn interest for every religious mind; but the name Holy Places of Jerusalem more strictly designates the group of sacred places of which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the centre, and which are supposed to comprise the sites of the chief events of our Lord's passion, death, and burial: Gethsemane, the Supperroom, the Church of the Ascension, the Tomb of the Virgin, &c. of the Latin quarter, and is called by the Turks Harât-el-Albam, and by the Christians the Via Dolorosa, as being the supposed route of our Lord from the hall of judgment to Calvary. Such is the traditional view as to the locality, not only of these leading events of our Lord's history, but also of many others of minor importance, and less prominently noticeable. For a long course of ages, the Christian world unhesitatingly acquiesced in this view of the topography of the Holy Places; but since the beginning of last century, doubts have been entertained as to its correctness; and in late years, the question has been discussed with much learning, although with little positive, or at least conclusive result. About the year 1730, a German, named Korte, who had visited Jerusalem, and explored the locality, published a work, calling the authenticity of the received system of sacred topography into question. The doubts expressed by him have been repeated at intervals ever since his day, and especially by the celebrated American critic, Dr Robinson, author of Biblical Researches in Palestine, who may be said, in two successive investigations, to have exhausted the evidence, on one side of the question, at least so far as the remains of the ancient city had at that time been explored. Dr Robinson distinctly affirms the impossibility of reconciling the received sacred localities with the plain requirements of the gospel history; but he fails himself to point out a scheme of topography which may be substituted for that which has been traditionally received. More recent critics, and especially Mr James Ferguson, in an Essay on the Ancient Topography of Jerusalem, agreeing with Dr Robinson in rejecting the received topography, contends against him that the true site of the Holy Sepulchre can be accurately determined, and that it is no other than the Mosque of Omar, or, as the Mohammedans call it, the Dome of the Rock.' This he holds to be the identical church which Constantine erected over the rock which contained the tomb of our Lord. The latest In the article JERUSALEM, the general topo- biblical traveller in Palestine, Dr Stanley, has left graphy of the ancient and modern city is briefly the question undecided. It is beyond the scope of described. The so-called Church of the Holy this work to discuss such a subject. We can but Sepulchre stands within the modern city, on the refer the reader to the chief authorities on each north-western or Latin quarter. It is a Byzantine side of the controversy. It is one upon which building, in the centre of a spacious enclosed court. future explorers may throw much light by skilful Under the great dome of the church stands the and judiciously conducted excavations. The works Holy Sepulchre, which is of an oblong form, fifteen at present about to be undertaken under the authofeet by ten, and is surmounted by a rich ceiling, rity of the Russian government are looked to with decorated with gold, silver, and precious marble. A much interest. See, on the one side, Robinson's circular hall surrounds the space beneath the dome. Biblical Researches in Palestine, Smith's Dictionary Around this circular hall are oratories for the of the Bible, article 'Jerusalem' (Ferguson); Essay Syrians, Copts, and Maronites; and above it is a on the Ancient Topography of Jerusalem, by the series of galleries, which are similarly appropriated. same author. On the other, Williams's Holy City, In the body of the church are the chapels of the Raumer's Beiträge zur Bibl. Geographie, Sepp's Greek, Latin, and Armenian Christians, the church Forschungen eines Deutschen Reisenden in Jerusalem, as a whole being maintained by the Ottoman Schaffter's Aechte Lage des heiligen Grabes. authorities in the condition, as it were, of a common meeting-ground for all the Christian communions, as the rivalries of the several religious bodies constantly lead to angry controversy, and not unfrequently to sanguinary conflicts. Opposite the entrance of the enclosure is a somewhat elevated marble slab, which is called the Stone of Unction, and is shewn as the stone on which our Lord's body was anointed before entombment; and above is an elevation approached by steps, which is the traditionary Mount Calvary, and on which now stands a rich dome-shaped building, floored with rich marbles, in the crypt of which is the cavity supposed to have been formed by the erection of the cross. The street by which this site is approached, from the direction of the ruins of Herod's palace, on the north side of the city, is the principal street HOLY SEPULCHRE, KNIGHTS OF THE, an order of knighthood instituted, probably by Pope Alexander VI., for the guardianship of the Holy Sepulchre, and the relief and protection of pilgrims. The pope was originally the grand-master, but he subsequently ceded his rights to the Guardian Father of the Holy Sepulchre. The knights must, by the rules of the order, be all of noble descent; they were bound to hear mass daily, to fight, to live, and to die for the Christian faith, &c. In return for these duties, the knights had the most unusual and extraordinary privileges conferred on them: they were exempt from taxation, could marry, and yet possess church property, legitimise bastards, and cut down and bury the bodies of criminals who had been hanged. On the recapture of Jerusalem by the Turks, the knights retired to Italy, and settled HOLY WATER-HOLYHEAD ISLAND. (or Maundy) Thursday, Good Friday (q. v.), Holy Saturday. Holy Thursday (called also Maundy Thursday, from Mandatum, the first word in one of the church services of the day), in the Roman Catholic Church, is specially designed as a commemoration of the Last Supper, and of the institution of the Eucharist. But there are several consecration of the oil or chrism used in baptism, other services annexed to the day, as the solemn confirmation, orders, and extreme unction, the Holy Saturday belongs the solemn blessing of washing of pilgrims' feet, and the tenebræ. To fire and of the water of the baptismal font; and from the earliest times, it was set apart for the baptism of catechumens, and for the ordination of the fire solemnly blessed on this day is lighted candidates for the ecclesiastical ministry. From the Paschal Light, which is regarded as a symbol of Christ risen from the dead. This symbolical light is kept burning during the reading of the gospel at mass throughout the interval between Easter and Pentecost. See Wetser's KirchenLexicon, art. 'Charwoche.' It must be added, however, that in many instances the primitive institution of the Holy Week was perverted, and that the suspension of labour, which was originally designed for purposes of devotion and recollection, HOLY WATER, in the Roman Catholic, as also in the Greek, Russian, and Oriental churches, signifies water blessed by a priest or bishop for certain religious uses. Water is, almost of its own nature, a fitting symbol of purity; and accordingly, in most of the ancient religions, the use of lustral or purifying water not only formed part of the public worship, but also entered largely into the personal acts of sanctification prescribed to individuals. The Jewish law contained many provisions to the same effect; and our Lord, by establishing baptism with water as the necessary form of initiation into the religion instituted by him, gave his sanction to the use, which, from its universal acceptance among mankind, appears to be a relic The usage of of the primeval natural revelation. sprinkling the hands and face with water before entering the sanctuary, which was prescribed in the Jewish law, was retained, or at least very early adopted, in the Christian church. It is expressly mentioned by Tertullian in the end of the 2d century. And that the water so employed was blessed by the priests we learn, among others, from St Jerome, and from the apostolical constitutions. Although it is difficult to fix the precise time, it cannot be doubted that the practice of mingling salt with the water is of very ancient origin (see Canon 20, De Consecr. Dist. iii.). In the Western Church, there is a solemn blessing of water in the service of Holy Saturday, but the ceremonial is repeated by the priest whenever it may be necessary to replenish the fountain. Instructed Catholics regard the use of holy water chiefly as a means of suggesting to the mind the necessity of internal purity; and although it is supposed to derive from the blessing a special efficacy for this end, yet this efficacy is held to be mainly sub-packets to Dublin, from which it is distant about jective and of a character entirely distinct from that ascribed to the sacramental rites of the church. In the reformed churches, the use of holy water is regarded as unscriptural and superstitious. HOLY WEEK, the week immediately preceding Easter, and specially consecrated to the commemoration of the Passion of our Redeemer. In English use, it is also called 'Passion Week' (a name appropriated, in Roman use, to the week before Palm Sunday). This institution is of very early origin, and the name Holy Week is but one of many by which was turned into an occasion of amusement not abuses are now universally discountenanced by the unfrequently of a very questionable character. Such ecclesiastical authorities. solemnisation of the Holy Week, with the exception In the Protestant communions, there is no special of Good Friday (q. v.), which is observed in some of them. HO'LYHEAD, a seaport, parliamentary borough, and market-town of North Wales, in the county of Anglesea, is situated on a small island of the same name, 24 miles west-north-west of Bangor, and 272 miles north-west of London. Although recently much improved, it is still a primitive, irregularly built town. It is the station of the mail steam 69 miles. The harbour of H., which is almost dry at low tide, is formed by a pier about 1000 feet in length, running north-east from an islet called Salt Island, which is connected with the mainland by a swivel-bridge. Few manufactures are carried the coasting-trade, and in ship-building and ropeon here. Pop. (1861) 6190, who are employed in making. The harbour of refuge now (1862) being constructed here, will, when completed, enclose an area of about 316 acres, with a depth of upwards of six fathoms. H. unites with Amlwch, Beaumaris, and Llangefni in sending a member to the House of It was Commons. its sacred character has been described. also called the 'Great Week,' the Silent Week,' the 'Week of the Holy Passion,' the 'Vacant Week,' HOLYHEAD ISLAND, a small island of North the Penitential Week.' In the Roman Catholic Wales, lies west of the island of Anglesca, and Church, the special characteristics of the celebration forms part of the county of that name. Its greatest of the Holy Week are increased solemnity and length is seven and a half miles, and its greatest gloom, penitential rigour, and mourning. If any breadth about three and a half miles. Area, about of the ordinary church festivals fall therein, it 6000 square acres; pop. 8868. H. I. is separated is transferred till after Easter. All instrumental from Anglesea by a narrow sandy strait crossed by music is suspended in the churches, the altars are the Holyhead Road and the Chester and Holy stripped of their ornaments, the pictures and statues head Railway, which are formed by embankments are veiled from public sight; manual labour, or causeways, arched in the centre, to admit of the although it is no longer entirely prohibited, is by passage of the water. The island, which comprises many persons voluntarily suspended; the rigour some good pasture-ground for sheep, as well as a of fasting is redoubled, and alms-deeds and other proportion of arable land, is for the most part rocky works of mercy sedulously enjoined and practised. and barren. On the north-west coast are two islets, All church services of the week, moreover, breathe the North and South Stacks, the latter with a the spirit of mourning, some of them being specially light-house, the light of which is visible at twenty devoted to the commemoration of particular scenes miles' distance. The South Stack is connected in the Passion of our Lord. The days thus specially with the island of H. by a suspension-bridge. The solemnised are Palm Sunday, Spy Wednesday, Holy | Stacks and the north coast of the island of H. are HOLYROOD-HOMAGE. hollowed out by the action of the sea into magnificent caves, which are the haunt of innumerable sea-fowl. Principal town, Holyhead (q. v.). HO'LYROOD. In the year 1128, King David I. of Scotland founded at Edinburgh an abbey of canons regular, of the order of St Augustine. It was dedicated in honour of the Holy Cross or Rood, which was brought to Scotland by St Margaret about the year 1070, and became one of the heirlooms of the kingdom. The BLACK ROOD OF SCOTLAND (q. v.), as it was called, fell into the hands of the English at the battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, and as its history passed from remembrance, a fable sprung up telling how King David was prevailed upon by his young nobles to go a hunting on the solemn festival, by which the church yearly commemorated the finding of the Holy Cross at Jerusalem; how the chase lay through the forest, which in those days encircled Arthur Seat, and stretched almost to the gates of Edinburgh; how the king, in pursuit of a wild hart, outrode all his companions; how at the foot of Salisbury Crags the hart turned to bay, and overthrew the king's horse; how as it rushed at the king, threatening him with instant death, a cross, as if from between its antlers, miraculously slid into the king's hands; how at the sight of it the hart fled and vanished; and how the king, warned by a vision in his sleep, resolved to build a monastery in honour of the Holy Rood on the spot where his life had been so preternaturally saved. When this legend was invented, apparently about the year 1420, it had been forgotten that the first site of the abbey was not at the foot of Salisbury Crags, but within the walls of the castle, whence it was not finally removed until after the year 1174, to the eastern extremity of the Canongate, as the little burgh came to be called, which the canons erected between their abbey and the king's burgh of Edinburgh. The abbey was burned by the English in 1385, in 1544, and in 1547. Before it could be restored after these last conflagrations, the Reformation arrived, when the ruins of the choir and transepts were taken down to repair the nave. This was used as the parish church of the Canongate from about 1560 till 1672, when it was turned into the chapel-royal. In 1687, King James VII., having built another parish church for the Canongate, set the nave of the abbey church apart for the Roman Catholic service, and had it fitted up with stalls for the Knights of the Thistle. It was plundered and burned by the mob at the Revolution in 1688, and remained in neglect until 1758. In that year it was repaired and roofed, but the roof was too heavy for the walls, and it fell in 1768, crushing the pillars of the north aisle, and otherwise injuring the building. The abbey of H. early became the occasional abode of the Scottish kings. John Balliol held a parliament within its walls in 1295. James II. was born in it, crowned in it, married in it, buried in it. The foundations of a palace, apart from the abbey, were laid by James IV., whose splendid nuptials with the Princess Margaret of England were celebrated here in 1503. Edinburgh had now become the acknowledged capital of Scotland, and H. henceforth was the chief seat of the Scottish sovereigns. Queen Mary took up her abode in the palace when she returned from France in 1561. Here, in 1566, Rizzio was torn from her side, and murdered. Her son, King James VI., dwelt much in H. before his accession to the throne of England in 1603. He revisited it in 1617. It was garrisoned by Cromwell's troops after the battle of Dunbar in 1650, when the greater part of it was burned down. It was rebuilt by King Charles II., from the designs of Sir William Bruce of Kinross, between 1671 and 1679. In 1745 and 1746, it was occupied in succession by Prince Charles Edward, and by the Duke of Cumberland. It sheltered the Count d'Artois (afterwards King Charles X. of France) from 1795 to 1799, and again from 1831 to 1835. King George IV. held his court in it in 1822. Since that time much has been done to make it a suitable residence for the sovereign, and for a good many years the Queen has visited it almost every summer. The oldest part of the palace is the north-west tower, founded by King James IV. about 1500, and completed by his son, King James V., who died in 1542. It was somewhat modernised in 16711679; and the roofs, if not the floors also, were renewed by King Charles I. (1625-1649), whose cipher they bear; but otherwise the disposition of the rooms seems to be much the same as in the days of Queen Mary. It need scarcely be added, that the furniture is much more recent, and that the articles shewn as relics of Mary and her court are wholly spurious. The palace, with its precincts and park, is a sanctuary for debtors. In England, the same privilege extends to royal palaces to this extent, that no writ of legal process can be executed within their bounds; but this practically is only a protection to the servants of the palace; and no means exist for insolvent persons taking lodgings in a privileged place there or elsewhere, and avoiding imprisonment, in so systematic a way as is competent to residents within the precincts of Holyrood Palace, where there is ample accommodation. The precincts comprehend the adjoining park and the hills of Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags. Refugee debtors must procure a certificate of protection within twenty-four hours from the proper official within the bounds. Taking refuge within the sanctuary is considered disreputable, and from this canse, as well as from recent meliorations in the laws affecting debtors, the practice is greatly fallen off. It is to be added, that the sanctuary of Holyrood shelters debtors to the crown. HOLYWELL, a municipal and parliamentary borough, and market-town of North Wales, in the county of Flint, and 44 miles north-west of the town of that name, is situated on an eminence on the line of the Holyhead and Chester Railway, and near the south-western shore of the estuary of the Dee. It is the centre of an immensely valuable mineral district, and is the seat of numerous establishments for lead and copper smelting, manufacturing shot, zinc, &c. There are also manufactures of cottons, flannels, and galloons, paper, and Roman cement; coal and lead mines, and limestone quarries, are worked. This borough unites with those of Flint, Mold, &c., in returning a member to parliament. Pop. (1861) 5335. H. is now one of the most important and flourishing towns of North Wales. It owes its origin to the renowned Well of St Winifred, which is estimated to deliver twenty-one tons of water per minute, and is said to be the most copious spring in Britain. Its waters were at one time believed to be efficacious in curing diseases, and were visited by great numbers of pilgrims. HO'MAGE is the service or show of respect due from a knight or vassal to his lord in feudal times. The word is derived from the form of expression used in doing the service, which was-jeo dereigne vostre home-I become your man. Since the abolition of tenures, the word has no substantial legal meaning in the law of England, except in a limited sense as to copyholds, to denote the kind of acknowledgment made by a tenant to the lord of the manor. The homage jury consisted of the tenants who did |