Honor, Point of. A nice discrimination in matters affecting one’s honor. A delicacy of feeling, which is generally acquired by education, and strengthened by intercourse with men of strict integrity and good conduct. It is likewise very frequently the offspring of peculiar habits, received notions, and established etiquettes; also, a minute distinction; a punctilio.
Honor, Signatures upon. Are instruments, such as declarations of officers on vouchers for allowances, pay, etc., that are guaranteed by the names of individuals, without oath.
Honor, Word of. A promise or engagement that is made or entered into by word of mouth, the breach of which entails disgrace upon the violator. To die upon the bed of honor, is a term particularly applied to military men, who die in battle fighting in their country’s cause.
Honors of War. A compliment granted on capitulation to a garrison which has made a gallant defense. The exact nature of the honors accorded have varied in different ages and on different occasions. Ordinarily they are as follows: The garrison marches out through the gap in the breach, if there is one, with arms and personal baggage. The drums beat, the colors fly, officers carry their swords drawn, and the men their bayonets fixed. A certain number of guns—ordinarily two—accompany the force, and formerly the gunners carried lighted matches. On reaching the glacis the garrison—unless it is one of the stipulations that it is to join the main army—forms up and grounds arms, only the officers retaining their swords, and is marched off under escort.
Honvéd. The name given in Hungary under the earlier kings to the national champions. With the disappearance of these, the word too disappeared; but in the summer of 1848 it was revived, and applied first to those Hungarian volunteers dispatched to the south against the Servians, and subsequently, when the war with Austria really commenced, to the whole patriotic army. Still, in common parlance, the term honvéd is used only with reference to the Hungarian infantry.
Hood (Sp. tapadera). A leather cover for the stirrup of a saddle.
Hooghly. A town of Bengal, and the capital of a district of the same name, situated on the west hank of the Hooghly River, 27 miles north from Calcutta. This place is supposed to have been founded by the Portuguese about 1538, and after their expulsion in 1632 by the Mogul troops, it became the imperial port of the Mogul empire. In 1757 it was taken by the British; it was retaken shortly after by Surajah Dowlah, but ultimately fell, after a few months, into the hands of the British under Lord Clive.
Hooks. Pieces of bent iron fixed to the transom plates of a field-carriage are so called. They serve to fix the bricoles or ropes for drawing it occasionally backwards or forwards.
Hookum. An Indian word, signifying order or command.
Hookummaumeh. In India, signifies a letter of instructions, or the paper that contains orders.