HON-SHIU, lirat'sbyrV. The most important of the grump of islands constituting the Empire of .Japan. See IloNno.
litait'hini. JOHANN NII:OT.AUS VON (1701-90). Cerinan Roman Catholic prel ate and writer. He was born at Treves, January 27, 1701. He was educated in the Jesuit school of his native city, studied canon law at Louvain under the celebrated Van Espen, and afterwards taught at Treves and Coblenz, finding time to write at Treves two voluminous works on the history of the town, Historiu TrCVirCI1SiS Diplo malice (1750) and Prodramus Ilistoriw Trevi rensis (1757). But his literary career is chiefly memorable for a theological essay, De Statu Ec clesice et Lcgitima Potestate Romani Pontificis (170), which by the novelty and boldness of its views created an immense sensation in the theo logical world. The work was composed with a view to the reunion of Christian sects. The name of the author was for a long time unknown, the work being published under the pseudonym Of Jnstinus Febronius (a name taken from that of liontheim's niece, a calmness at Jnvigny, who was called Justina Febronia), and the system of Church government which the work propounds has been called Febronianism (q.v.).
The work, immediately after its appearance, was condemned by Clement XIII., as well as by many individual bishops. It drew forth a num ber of replies, the most important of which are those of Zaccaria (1767) and Ballerini (1768). Pius VI., in 1778, required from Hont heim a retraction of these doctrines. This re traction, however, was modified by a subsequent Commentary, published at Frankfort in 1781, to which, at the desire of the l'ape. Cardinal Gerdil replied. Hontheim made full snbmission to the Church in 1788, and died in his ninetieth year at Montquintin, in Luxemburg, September 2, 1790. Consult Mejer. Fehronius (Freiburg, 1885), a work biased iu favor of Ilontheim.