Haute Cour.
A tribunal established by the French Legislative Assembly in 1791, to enable it to deal with ministers and public functionaries obnoxious to the majority of that body. The Haute Cour had the power of initiating prosecutions as well as of judging, and there was no appeal from its decisions.
Hawkeye State.
The popular name of the State of Iowa, U.S.A. It is derived from a famous Indian chief of that name.
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.
A treaty signed in 1901 between Great Britain and the United States, to amend the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 with respect to the proposed canal to unite the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The new treaty maintains the general principle of neutralization of the canal, but the United States alone is charged with the maintenance of its neutrality. No fortifications are to be built in any way commanding it, and it is to be always free from blockade. The United States reserve the right to maintain a military police force along the line of the canal for protective purposes.
Headborough.
In Anglo-Saxon times the chief of the Frankpledge. In the event of a member of the Frankpledge failing in his obligations and fleeing from justice, it was the duty of the Headborough to prove that the other members of the Frankpledge were guiltless of complicity with the defaulter.
Hearth Money.
A tax of two shillings on every hearth, first imposed in 1663. It was very unpopular, and was abolished in 1689. A similar tax, known as Chimney Money, had been levied as early as the Norman Conquest.