[1] Chapman's source in this piece remains undetermined. It cannot be
the _Historia sui temporis_ of Jacques de Thorn, for the 4th volume
of his work, which relates the story, was not published until 1609
(see Koeppel, p. 14).
[2] This play appears to have been issued in 1653 with the title _The
Parracide, or Revenge for Honour_ as the work of Henry Glathorne.
CHAPMAN (from O. Eng. _ceap_, and Mid. Eng. _cheap_, to barter, cf.
"Cheapside" in London, and Ger. _Kaufmann_), one who buys or sells, a
trader or dealer, especially an itinerant pedlar. The word "chap," now a
slang term, meant originally a customer.
CHAPONE, HESTER (1727-1801), English essayist, daughter of Thomas Mulso,
a country gentleman, was born at Twywell, Northamptonshire, on the 27th
of October 1727. She was a precocious child, and at the age of nine
wrote a romance entitled _The Loves of Amoret and Melissa_. Hecky Mulso,
as she was familiarly called, developed a beautiful voice, which earned
her the name of "the linnet." While on a visit to Canterbury she made
the acquaintance of the learned Mrs Elizabeth Carter, and soon became
one of the admirers of the novelist Samuel Richardson. She was one of
the little court of women who gathered at North End, Fulham; and in Miss
Susannah Highmore's sketch of the novelist reading _Sir Charles
Grandison_ to his friends Miss Mulso is the central figure. She
corresponded with Richardson on "filial obedience" in letters as long as
his own, signing herself his "ever obliged and affectionate child." She
admired, however, with discrimination, and in the words of her
biographer (_Posthumous Works_, 1807, p. 9) "her letters show with what
dignity, tempered with proper humility, she could maintain her own
well-grounded opinion." In 1760 Miss Mulso, with her father's reluctant
consent, married the attorney, John Chapone, who had been befriended by
Richardson. Her husband died within a year of her marriage. Mrs Chapone
remained in London visiting various friends. She had already made small
contributions to various periodicals when she published, in 1772, her
best known work, _Letters on the Improvement of the Mind._ This book
brought her numerous requests from distinguished persons to undertake
the education of their children. She died on the 25th of December 1801.
See _The Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone, containing her
correspondence with Mr Richardson; a series of letters to Mrs
Elizabeth Carter ... together with an account of her life and
character drawn up by her own family_ (1807).
CHAPPE, CLAUDE (1763-1805), French engineer, was born at Brulon (Sarthe)
in 1763. He was the inventor of an optical telegraph which was widely
used in France until it was superseded by the electric telegraph. His
device consisted of an upright post, on the top of which was fastened a
transverse bar, while at the ends of the latter two smaller arms moved
on pivots. The position of these bars represented words or letters; and
by means of machines placed at intervals such that each was distinctly
visible from the next, messages could be conveyed through 50 leagues in
a quarter of an hour. The machine was adopted by the Legislative
Assembly in 1792, and in the following year Chappe was appointed
_ingenieur-telegraphe_; but the originality of his invention was so much
questioned that he was seized with melancholia and (it is said)
committed suicide at Paris in 1805.
His elder brother, Ignace Urbain Jean Chappe (1760-1829), took part in
the invention of the telegraph, and with a younger brother, Pierre
Francois, from 1805 to 1823 was administrator of the telegraphs, a post
which was also held by two other brothers, Rene and Abraham, from 1823
to 1830. Ignace was the author of a _Histoire de la telegraphie_ (1824).
An uncle, Jean Chappe d'Auteroche (1728-1769), was an astronomer who
observed two transits of Venus, one in Siberia in 1761, and the other in
1769 in California, where he died.
CHAPPELL, WILLIAM (1809-1888), English writer on music, a member of the
London musical firm of Chappell & Co., was born on the 20th of November
1809, eldest son of Samuel Chappell (d. 1834), who founded the business.
William Chappell is particularly noteworthy for his starting the Musical
Antiquarian Society in 1840, and his publication of the standard work
_Popular Music of the Olden Time_ (1855-1859)--an expansion of a
collection of "national English airs" made by him in 1838-1840. The
modern revival of interest in English folk-songs owes much to this work,
which has since been re-edited by Professor H.E. Wooldridge (1893). W.
Chappell died on the 20th of August 1888. His brother, Thomas Patey
Chappell (d. 1902), meanwhile had largely extended the publishing
business, and had started (1859) the Monday and Saturday Popular
Concerts at St James's Hall, which were successfully managed by a
younger brother, S. Arthur Chappell, till they came to an end towards
the close of the century.
CHAPRA, or CHUPRA, a town of British India, the administrative
headquarters of Saran district in Bengal, near the left bank of the
river Gogra, just above its confluence with the Ganges; with a railway
station on the Bengal & North-Western line towards Oudh. Pop. (1901)
45,901, showing a decrease of 21% in the decade. There are a government
high school, a German Lutheran mission, and a public library endowed by
a former maharaja of Hatwa. Chapra is the centre of trade in indigo and
saltpetre, and conducts a large business by water as well as by rail.
CHAPTAL, JEAN ANTOINE CLAUDE, COMTE DE CHANTE-LOUP (1756-1832), French
chemist and statesman, was born at Nogaret, Lozere, on the 4th of June
1756. The son of an apothecary, he studied chemistry at Montpellier,
obtaining his doctor's diploma in 1777, when he repaired to Paris. In
1781 the States of Languedoc founded a chair of chemistry for him at the
school of medicine in Montpellier, where he taught the doctrines of
Lavoisier. The capital he acquired by the death of a wealthy uncle he
employed in the establishment of chemical works for the manufacture of
the mineral acids, alum, white-lead, soda and other substances. His
labours in the cause of applied science were at length recognized by the
French government, which presented him with letters of nobility, and the
cordon of the order of Saint Michel. During the Revolution a publication
by Chaptal, entitled _Dialogue entre un Montagnard et un Girondin_,
caused him to be arrested; but being speedily set at liberty through the
intermission of his friends, he undertook, in 1793, the management of
the saltpetre works at Grenelle. In the following year he went to
Montpellier, where he remained till 1797, when he returned to Paris.
After the _coup d'etat_ of the 18th of Brumaire (November 9, 1799) he
was made a councillor of state by the First Consul, and succeeded Lucien
Bonaparte as minister of the interior, in which capacity he established
a chemical manufactory near Paris, a school of arts, and a society of
industries; he also reorganized the hospitals, introduced the metrical
system of weights and measures, and otherwise greatly encouraged the
arts and sciences. A misunderstanding between him and Napoleon (who
conferred upon him the title of comte de Chanteloup) occasioned
Chaptal's retirement from office in 1804; but before the end of that
year he was again received into favour by the emperor, who bestowed on
him the grand cross of the Legion of Honour, and made him treasurer to
the conservative senate. On Napoleon's return from Elba, Chaptal was
made director-general of commerce and manufactures and a minister of
state. He was obliged after the downfall of the emperor to withdraw into
private life; and his name was removed from the list of the peers of
France until 1819. In 1816, however, he was nominated a member of the
Academy of Sciences by Louis XVIII. Chaptal was especially a popularizer
of science, attempting to apply to industry and agriculture the
discoveries of chemistry. In this way he contributed largely to the
development of modern industry. He died at Paris on the 30th of July
1832.
His literary works exhibit both vigour and perspicuity of style; he
wrote, in addition to various articles, especially in the _Annales de
chimie, Elemens de chimie_ (3 vols., 1790; new ed., 1796-1803);
_Traite du salpetre et des goudrons_ (1796); _Tableau des principaux
sels terreux_ (1798); _Essai sur le perfectionnement des arts
chimiques en France_ (1800); _Art de faire, de gouverner, et de
perfectionner les vins_ (1 vol., 1801; new ed., 1819); _Traite
theorique et pratique sur la culture de la vigne, &c._, (2 vols.,
1801; new ed., 1811); _Essai sur le blanchiment_ (1801); _La Chimie
appliquee aux arts_ (4 vols., 1806); _Art de la teinture du coton en
rouge_ (1807); _Art du teinturier et du degraisseur_ (1800); _De
l'industrie francaise_ (2 vols., 1819); _Chimie appliquee a
l'agriculture_ (2 vols., 1823; new ed., 1829).
CHAPTER (a shortened form of _chapiter_, a word still used in
architecture for a capital; derived from O. Fr. _chapitre_, Lat.
_capitellum_, diminutive of _caput_, head), a principal division or
section of a book, and so applied to acts of parliament, as forming
"chapters" or divisions of the legislation of a session of parliament.
The name "chapter" is given to the permanent body of the canons of a
cathedral or collegiate church, presided over, in the English Church, by
the dean, and in the Roman communion by the provost or the dean, and
also to the body of the members of a religious order. This may be a
"conventual" chapter of the monks of a particular monastery,
"provincial" of the members of the order in a province, or "general" of
the whole order. This ecclesiastical use of the word arose from the
custom of reading a chapter of Scripture, or a head (_capitulum_) of the
_regula_, to the assembled canons or monks. The transference from the
reading to the assembly itself, and to the members constituting it, was
easy, through such phrases as _convenire ad capitulum_. The title
"chapter" is similarly used of the assembled body of knights of a
military or other order. (See also CANON; CATHEDRAL; DEAN).
CHAPTER-HOUSE (Lat. _capitolium_, Ital. _capitolo_, Fr. _chapitre_, Ger.
_Kapitelhaus_), the chamber in which the chapter or heads of the
monastic bodies (see ABBEY and CATHEDRAL) assembled to transact
business. They are of various forms; some are oblong apartments, as
Canterbury, Exeter, Chester, Gloucester, &c.; some octagonal, as
Salisbury, Westminster, Wells, Lincoln, York, &c. That at Lincoln has
ten sides, and that at Worcester is circular; most are vaulted
internally and polygonal externally, and some, as Salisbury, Wells,
Lincoln, Worcester, &c., depend on a single slight vaulting shaft for
the support of the massive vaulting. They are often provided with a
vestibule, as at Westminster, Lincoln, Salisbury and are almost
exclusively English.
CHAPU, formerly an important maritime town of China, in the province of
Cheh-kiang, 50 m. N.W. of Chen-hai, situated in one of the richest and
best cultivated districts in the country. It is the port of Hang-chow,
with which it has good canal communication, and it was formerly the only
Chinese port trading with Japan. The town has a circuit of about 5 m.
exclusive of the suburbs that lie along the beach; and the Tatar quarter
is separated from the rest by a wall. It was captured and much injured
by the British force in 1842, but was abandoned immediately after the
engagement. The sea around it has now silted up, though in the middle of
the 19th century it was accessible to the light-draught ships of the
British fleet.
CHAR (_Salvelinus_), a fish of the family Salmonidae, represented in
Europe, Asia and North America. The best known and most widely
distributed species, the one represented in British and Irish lakes, is
_S. alpinus_, a graceful and delicious fish, covered with very minute
scales and usually dark olive, bluish or purplish black above, with or
without round orange or red spots, pinkish white or yellowish pink to
scarlet or claret red below. When the char go to sea, they assume a more
silvery coloration, similar to that of the salmon and sea trout; the red
spots become very indistinct and the lower parts are almost white. The
very young are also silvery on the sides and white below, and bear 11 to
15 bars, or parr-marks, on the side. This fish varies much according to
localities; and the difference in colour, together with a few points of
doubtful constancy, have given rise to the establishment of a great
number of untenable so-called species, as many as seven having been
ascribed to the British and Irish fauna, viz. _S. alpinus, nivalis,
killinensis, willoughbyi, perisii, colii_ and _grayi_, the last from
Lough Melvin, Ireland, being the most distinct. _S. alpinus_ varies much
in size according to the waters it inhabits, remaining dwarfed in some
English lakes, and growing to 2 ft. or more in other localities. In
other parts of Europe, also, various local forms have been
distinguished, such as the "omble chevalier" of the lakes of Switzerland
and Savoy (_S. umbla_), the "Sabling" of the lakes of South Germany and
Austria (_S. salvelinus_), the "kullmund" of Norway (_S. carbonarius_),
&c., while the North American _S. parkei, alipes, stagnalis, arcturus,
areolus, oquassa_ and _marstoni_ may also be regarded as varieties.
Taken in this wide sense, _S. alpinus_ has a very extensive
distribution. In central Europe, in the British islands and in the
greater part of Scandinavia it is confined to mountain lakes, but
farther to the north, in both the Old World and the New, it lives in the
sea and ascends rivers to spawn. In Lapland, Iceland, Greenland and
other parts of the arctic regions, it ranks among the commonest fishes.
The extreme northern point at which char have been obtained is 82 deg.
34' N. (Victoria lake and Floeberg Beach, Arctic America). It reaches an
altitude of 2600 ft. in the Alps and 6000 ft. in the Carpathians.
The American brook char, _S. fontinalis_, is a close ally of _S.
alpinus_, differing from it in having fewer and shorter gill-rakers, a
rather stouter body, the back more or less barred or marbled with dark
olive or black, and the dorsal and caudal fins mottled or barred with
black. Many local varieties of colour have been distinguished. Sea-run
individuals are often nearly plain bright silvery. It is a small
species, growing to about 18 in. abundant in all clear, cold streams of
North America, east of the Mississippi, northward to Labrador. The fish
has been introduced into other parts of the United States, and also into
Europe.
Another member of the same section of Salmonidae is the Great Lake char
of North America, _S. namaycush_, one of the largest salmonids, said to
attain a weight of 100 lb. The body is very elongate and covered with
extremely small scales. The colour varies from grey to black, with
numerous round pale spots, which may be tinged with reddish; the dorsal
and caudal fins reticulate with darker. This fish inhabits the Great
Lakes regions and neighbouring parts of North America.
CHAR-A-BANC (Fr. for "benched carriage"), a large form of wagonette-like
vehicle for passengers, but with benched seats arranged in rows,
looking forward, commonly used for large parties, whether as public
conveyances or for excursions.
CHARACTER (Gr. [Greek: charakter] from [Greek: charattein], to scratch),
a distinctive mark (spelt "caracter" up to the 16th century, with other
variants); so applied to symbols of notation or letters of the alphabet;
more figuratively, the distinguishing traits of anything, and
particularly the moral and mental qualities of an individual human
being, the sum of those qualities which distinguish him as a
personality. From the latter usage "a character" becomes almost
identical with "reputation"; and in the sense of "giving a servant a
character," the word involves a written testimonial. For the law
relating to servants' characters see MASTER AND SERVANT. A further
development is the use of "character" to mean an "odd or eccentric
person"; or of a "character actor," to mean an actor who plays a
highly-coloured strange part. The word is also used as the name of a
form of literature, consisting of short descriptions of types of
character. Well-known examples of such "characters" are those of
Theophrastus and La Bruyere, and in English, of Joseph Hall (1574-1656)
and Sir Thomas Overbury.
CHARADE, a kind of riddle, probably invented in France during the 18th
century, in which a word of two or more syllables is divined by guessing
and combining into one word (the answer) the different syllables, each
of which is described, as an independent word, by the giver of the
charade. Charades may be either in prose or verse. Of poetic charades
those by W. Mackworth Praed are well known and excellent examples, while
the following specimens in prose may suffice as illustrations. "My
_first_, with the most rooted antipathy to a Frenchman, prides himself,
whenever they meet, upon sticking close to his jacket; my _second_ has
many virtues, nor is its least that it gives its name to my first; my
_whole_ may I never catch!" "My _first_ is company; my _second_ shuns
company; my _third_ collects company; and my _whole_ amuses company."
The solutions are _Tar-tar_ and _Co-nun-drum_. The most popular form of
this amusement is the acted charade, in which the meaning of the
different syllables is acted out on the stage, the audience being left
to guess each syllable and thus, combining the meaning of all the
syllables, the whole word. A brilliant example of the acted charade is
described in Thackeray's _Vanity Fair_.
CHARCOAL, the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by
removing the volatile constituents of animal and vegetable substances;
wood gives origin to wood-charcoal; sugar to sugar-charcoal; bone to
bone-charcoal (which, however, mainly consists of calcium phosphate);
while coal gives "coke" and "gas-carbon." The first part of the word
charcoal is of obscure origin. The independent use of "char," meaning to
scorch, to reduce to carbon, is comparatively recent, and must have been
taken from "charcoal," which is quite early. The _New English
Dictionary_ gives as the earliest instance of "char" a quotation dated
1679. Similarly the word "chark" or "chak," meaning the same as "char,"
is also late, and is probably due to a wrong division of the word
"charcoal," or, as it was often spelled in the 16th and 17th centuries,
"charkole" and "charke-coal." No suggestions for an origin of "char" are
satisfactory. It may be a use of the word "chare," which appears in
"char-woman," the American "chore"; in all these words it means "turn,"
a turn of work, a job, and "charcoal" would have to mean "turned coal,"
i.e. wood changed or turned to coal, a somewhat forced derivation, for
which there is no authority. Another suggestion is that it is connected
with "chirk" or "chark," an old word meaning "to make a grating noise."
_Wood-charcoal._--In districts where there is an abundance of wood, as
in the forests of France, Austria and Sweden, the operation of
charcoal-burning is of the crudest description. The method, which dates
back to a very remote period, generally consists in piling billets of
wood on their ends so as to form a conical pile, openings being left at
the bottom to admit air, with a central shaft to serve as a flue. The
whole is covered with turf of moistened soil. The firing is begun at the
bottom of the flue, and gradually spreads outwards and upwards. The
success of the operation--both as to the intrinsic value of the product
and its amount--depends upon the rate of the combustion. Under average
conditions, 100 parts of wood yield about 60 parts by volume, or 25
parts by weight, of charcoal. The modern process of carbonizing
wood--either in small pieces or as sawdust--in cast iron retorts is
extensively practised where wood is scarce, and also by reason of the
recovery of valuable by-products (wood spirit, pyroligneous acid,
wood-tar), which the process permits. The question of the temperature of
the carbonization is important; according to J. Percy, wood becomes
brown at 220 deg. C., a deep brown-black after some time at 280 deg.,
and an easily powdered mass at 310 deg. Charcoal made at 300 deg. is
brown, soft and friable, and readily inflames at 380 deg.; made at
higher temperatures it is hard and brittle, and does not fire until
heated to about 700 deg. One of the most important applications of
wood-charcoal is as a constituent of gunpowder (q.v.). It is also used
in metallurgical operations as a reducing agent, but its application has
been diminished by the introduction of coke, anthracite smalls, &c. A
limited quantity is made up into the form of drawing crayons; but the
greatest amount is used as a fuel.
The porosity of wood-charcoal explains why it floats on the surface of
water, although it is actually denser, its specific gravity being about
1.5. The porosity also explains the property of absorbing gases and
vapours; at ordinary temperatures ammonia and cyanogen are most readily
taken up; and Sir James Dewar has utilized this property for the
preparation of high vacua at low temperatures. This character is
commercially applied in the use of wood-charcoal as a disinfectant. The
fetid gases produced by the putrefaction and waste of organic matter
enter into the pores of the charcoal, and there meet with the oxygen
previously absorbed from the atmosphere; oxidation ensues, and the
noxious effluvia are decomposed. Generally, however, the action is a
purely mechanical one, the gases being only absorbed. Its
pharmacological action depends on the same property; it absorbs the
gases of the stomach and intestines (hence its use in cases of
flatulence), and also liquids and solids. Wood-charcoal has also the
power of removing colouring matters from solutions, but this property is
possessed in a much higher degree by animal-charcoal.
_Animal-charcoal_ or _bone black_ is the carbonaceous residue obtained
by the dry distillation of bones; it contains only about 10% of carbon,
the remainder being calcium and magnesium phosphates (80%) and other
inorganic material originally present in the bones. It is generally
manufactured from the residues obtained in the glue (q.v.) and gelatin
(q.v.) industries. Its decolorizing power was applied in 1812 by Derosne
to the clarification of the syrups obtained in sugar-refining; but its
use in this direction has now greatly diminished, owing to the
introduction of more active and easily managed reagents. It is still
used to some extent in laboratory practice. The decolorizing power is
not permanent, becoming lost after using for some time; it may be
revived, however, by washing and reheating.
_Lampblack_ or _soot_ is the familiar product of the incomplete
combustion of oils, pitch, resins, tallow, &c. It is generally prepared
by burning pitch residues (see COAL-TAR) and condensing the product.
Thus obtained it is always oily, and, before using as a pigment, it must
be purified by ignition in closed crucibles (see CARBON).
CHARCOT, JEAN MARTIN (1825-1893), French physician, was born in Paris on
the 29th of November 1825. In 1853 he graduated as M.D. of Paris
University, and three years later was appointed physician of the Central
Hospital Bureau. In 1860 he became professor of pathological anatomy in
the medical faculty of Paris, and in 1862 began that famous connexion
with the Salpetriere which lasted to the end of his life. He was elected
to the Academy of Medicine in 1873, and ten years afterwards became a
member of the Institute. His death occurred suddenly on the 16th of
August 1893 at Morvan, where he had gone for a holiday. Charcot, who was
a good linguist and well acquainted with the literature of his own as
well as of other countries, excelled as a clinical observer and a
pathologist. His work at the Salpetriere exerted a great influence on
the development of the science of neurology, and his classical _Lecons
sur les maladies du systeme nerveux_, the first series of which was
published in 1873, represents an enormous advance in the knowledge and
discrimination of nervous diseases. He also devoted much attention to
the study of obscure morbid conditions like hysteria, especially in
relation to hypnotism (q.v.); indeed, it is in connexion with his
investigation into the phenomena and results of the latter that his name
is popularly known. In addition to his labours on neurological and even
physiological problems he made many contributions to other branches of
medicine, his published works dealing, among other topics, with liver
and kidney diseases, gout and pulmonary phthisis. As a teacher he was
remarkably successful, and always commanded an enthusiastic band of
followers.
CHARD, JOHN ROUSE MERRIOTT (1847-1897), British soldier, was born at
Boxhill, near Plymouth, on the 21st of December 1847, and in 1868
entered the Royal Engineers. In 1878 Lieutenant Chard was ordered to
South Africa to take part in the Zulu War, and was stationed at the
small post of Rorke's Drift to protect the bridges across the Buffalo
river, and some sick men and stores. Here, with Lieutenant Gonville
Bromhead (1856-1891) and eighty men of the 2nd 24th Foot, he heard, on
the 22nd of January 1879, of the disaster of Isandhlwana from some
fugitives who had escaped the slaughter. Believing that the victorious
Zulus would attempt to cross into Natal, they prepared, hastily, to hold
the Drift until help should come. They barricaded and loopholed the old
church and hospital, and improvised defences from wagons, mealie sacks
and bags of Indian corn. Early in the afternoon they were attacked by
more than 3000 Zulus, who, after hours of desperate hand-to-hand
fighting, carried the outer defences, an inner low wall of biscuit
boxes, and the hospital, room by room. The garrison then retired to the
stone kraal, and repulsed attack after attack through the night. The
next morning relieving forces appeared, and the enemy retired. The
spirited defence of Rorke's Drift saved Natal from a Zulu invasion, and
Chard's and Bromhead's gallantry was rewarded with the V.C. and
immediate promotion to the rank of captain and brevet-major. On Chard's
return to England he became a popular hero. From 1893-1896 he commanded
the Royal Engineers at Singapore, and was made a colonel in 1897. He
died the same year at Hatch-Beauchamp, near Taunton, on the 1st of
November.
CHARD, a market town and municipal borough in the Southern parliamentary
division of Somersetshire, England, 142-1/2 m. W. by S. of London by the
London & South Western railway. Pop. (1901) 4437. It stands on high
ground within 1 m. of the Devonshire border. Its cruciform parish church
of St Mary the Virgin is Perpendicular of the 15th century. A fine east
window is preserved. The manufactures include linen, lace, woollens,
brassware and ironware. Chard is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12
councillors. Area, 444 acres.
Chard (_Cerdre_, _Cherdre_, _Cherde_) was commercial in origin, being a
trade centre near the Roman road to the west. There are two Roman villas
in the parish. There was a British camp at Neroche in the neighbourhood.
The bishop of Bath held Chard in 1086, and his successor granted in 1234
the first charter which made Chard a free borough, each burgage paying a
rent of 12d. Trade in hides was forbidden to non-burgesses. This charter
was confirmed in 1253, 1280 and 1285. Chard is said to have been
incorporated by Elizabeth, as the corporation seal dates from 1570, but
no Elizabethan charter can be found. It was incorporated by grant of
Charles I. in 1642, and Charles II. gave a charter in 1683. Chard was a
mesne borough, the first overlord being Bishop Joceline, whose
successors held it (with a brief interval from 1545 to 1552) until 1801,
when it was sold to Earl Poulett. Parliamentary representation began in
1312, and was lost in 1328. A market on Monday and fair on the 25th of
July were granted in 1253, and confirmed in 1642 and 1683, when two more
fair days were added (November 2 and May 3), the market being changed to
Tuesday. The market day is now Monday, fairs being held on the first
Wednesday in May, August and November, for corn and cattle only, their
medieval importance as centres of the cloth trade having departed.
CHARDIN, JEAN SIMEON (1699-1779), French _genre_ painter, was born in
Paris, and studied under Pierre Jacques Cazes (1676-1754), the
historical painter, and Noel Nicolas Coypel. He became famous for his
still-life pictures and domestic interiors, which are well represented
at the Louvre, and for figure-painting, as in his _Le Benedicite_
(1740).
CHARDIN, SIR JOHN (1643-1713), French traveller, was born at Paris in
1643. His father, a wealthy jeweller, gave him an excellent education,
and trained him in his own art; but instead of settling down in the
ordinary routine of the craft, he set out in company with a Lyons
merchant named Raisin in 1665 for Persia and India, partly on business
and partly to gratify his own inclination. After a highly successful
journey, during which he had received the patronage of Shah Abbas II. of
Persia, he returned to France in 1670, and there published in the
following year _Recit du Couronnement du roi de Perse Soliman III_.
Finding, however, that his Protestant profession cut him off from all
hope of honours or advancement in his native country, he set out again
for Persia in August 1671. This second journey was much more adventurous
than the first, as instead of going directly to his destination, he
passed by Smyrna, Constantinople, the Crimea, Caucasia, Mingrelia and
Georgia, and did not reach Ispahan till June 1673. After four years
spent in researches throughout Persia, he again visited India, and
returned to Europe by the Cape of Good Hope in 1677. The persecution of
Protestants in France led him, in 1681, to settle in London, where he
was appointed jeweller to the court, and received from Charles II. the
honour of knighthood. In 1683 he was sent to Holland as representative
of the English East India Company; and in 1686 he published the first
part of his great narrative--_The Travels of Sir John Chardin into
Persia and the East Indies, &c._ (London). Sir John died in London in
1713, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument bears the
inscription _Nomen sibi fecit eundo_.
It was not till 1711 that the complete account of Chardin's travels
appeared, under the title of _Journal du voyage du chevalier Chardin_,
at Amsterdam. The Persian portion is to be found in vol. ii. of
Harris's _Collection_, and extracts are reprinted by Pinkerton in vol.
ix. The best complete reprint is by Langles (Paris, 1811). Sir John
Chardin's narrative has received the highest praise from the most
competent authorities for its fulness, comprehensiveness and fidelity;
and it furnished Montesquieu, Rousseau, Gibbon and Helvetius with most
important material.
CHARENTE, an inland department of south-western France, comprehending
the ancient province of Angoumois, and inconsiderable portions of
Saintonge, Poitou, Marche, Limousin and Perigord. It is bounded N. by
the departments of Deux-Sevres and Vienne, E. by those of Vienne and
Dordogne, S. by Dordogne and W. by Charente-Inferieure. Area 2305 sq. m.
Pop. (1906) 351,733. The department, though it contains no high
altitudes, is for the most part of a hilly nature. The highest points,
many of which exceed 1000 ft., are found in the Confolentais, the
granite region of the extreme north-east, known also as the Terres
Froides. In the Terres Chaudes, under which name the remainder of the
department is included, the levels vary in general between 300 and 650
ft., except in the western plains--the Pays-Bas and Champagne--where
they range from 40 to 300 ft. A large part of Charente is thickly
wooded, the principal forests lying in its northern districts. The
department, as its name indicates, belongs mainly to the basin of the
river Charente (area of basin 3860 sq. m.; length of river 225 m.), the
chief affluents of which, within its borders, are the Tardoire, the
Touvre and the Ne. The Confolentais is watered by the Vienne, a
tributary of the Loire, while the arrondissement of Barbexieux in the
south-west belongs almost wholly to the basin of the Gironde.
The climate is temperate but moist, the rainfall being highest in the
north-east. Agriculturally, Charente is prosperous. More than half its
surface is arable land, on the greater part of which cereals are grown.
The potato is an important crop. The vine is predominant in the region
of Champagne, the wine produced being chiefly distilled into the famous
brandy to which the town of Cognac gives its name. The best pasture is
found in the Confolentais, where horned cattle are largely reared. The
chief fruits are chestnuts, walnuts and cider-apples. The poultry raised
in the neighbourhood of Barbezieux is highly esteemed. Charente has
numerous stone quarries, and there are peat workings and beds of clay
which supply brick and tile-works and earthenware manufactories. Among
the other industries, paper-making, which has its chief centre at
Angouleme, is foremost. The most important metallurgical establishment
is the large foundry of naval guns at Ruelle. Flour-mills and
leather-works are numerous. There are also many minor industries
subsidiary to paper-making and brandy-distilling, and Angouleme
manufactures gunpowder and confectionery. Coal, salt and timber are
prominent imports. Exports include paper, brandy, stone and agricultural
products. The department is served chiefly by the Orleans and Ouest-Etat
railways, and the Charente is navigable below Angouleme. Charente is
divided into the five arrondissements of Angouleme, Cognac, Ruffec,
Barbezieux and Confolens (29 cantons, 426 communes). It belongs to the
region of the XII. army corps, to the province of the archbishop of
Bordeaux, and to the academie (educational division) of Poitiers. Its
court of appeal is at Bordeaux.
Angouleme (the capital), Cognac, Confolens, Jarnac and La Rochefoucauld
(q.v.) are the more noteworthy places in the department. Barbezieux and
Ruffec, capitals of arrondissements and agricultural centres, are
otherwise of little importance. The department abounds in churches of
Romanesque architecture, of which those of Bassac, St Amant-de-Boixe
(portions of which are Gothic in style), Plassac and Gensac-la-Pallue
may be mentioned. There are remains of a Gothic abbey church at La
Couronne, and Roman remains at St Cybardeaux, Brossac and Chassenon
(where there are ruins of the Gallo-Roman town of Cassinomagus).
CHARENTE-INFERIEURE, a maritime department of south-western France,
comprehending the old provinces of Saintonge and Aunis, and a small
portion of Poitou, and including the islands of Re, Oleron, Aix and
Madame. Area, 2791 sq.m. Pop. (1906) 453,793. It is bounded N. by
Vendee, N.E. by Deux-Sevres, E. by Charente, S.E. by Dordogne, S.W. by
Gironde and the estuary of the Gironde, and W. by the Bay of Biscay.
Plains and low hills occupy the interior; the coast is flat and marshy,
as are the islands (Re, Aix, Oleron) which lie opposite to it. The
department takes its name from the river Charente, which traverses it
during the last 61 m. of its course and drains the central region. Its
chief tributaries are on the right the Boutonne, on the left the Seugne.
The climate is temperate and, except along the coast, healthy. There are
several sheltered bays on the coast, and several good harbours, the
chief of which are La Rochelle, Rochefort and Tonnay-Charente, the two
latter some distance up the Charente. Royan on the north shore of the
Gironde is an important watering-place much frequented for its bathing.
The majority of the inhabitants of Charente-Inferieure live by
agriculture. The chief products of the arable land are wheat, oats,
maize, barley and the potato. Horse and cattle-raising is carried on and
dairying is prosperous. A considerable quantity of wine, most of which
is distilled into brandy, is produced. The department has a few
peat-workings, and produces freestone, lime and cement; the salt-marshes
of the coast are important sources of mineral wealth. Glass, pottery,
bricks and earthenware are prominent industrial products. Ship-building,
brandy-distilling, iron-founding and machine construction are also
carried on. Oysters and mussels are bred in the neighbourhood of La
Rochelle and Marennes, and there are numerous fishing ports along the
coast.
The railways traversing the department belong to the Ouest-Etat system,
except one section of the Paris-Bordeaux line belonging to the Orleans
Company. The facilities of the department for internal communication are
greatly increased by the number of navigable streams which water it. The
Charente, the Sevre Niortaise, the Boutonne, the Seudre and the Gironde
furnish 142 m. of navigable waterway, to which must be added the 56 m.
covered by the canals of the coast. There are 6 arrondissements (40
cantons, 481 communes), cognominal with the towns of La Rochelle,
Rochefort, Marennes, Saintes, Jonzac and St Jean d'Angely--La Rochelle
being the chief town of the department. The department forms the diocese
of La Rochelle, and is attached to the 18th military region, and in
educational matters to the academie of Poitiers. Its court of appeal is
at Poitiers.
La Rochelle, St Jean d'Angely, Rochefort and Saintes (q.v.) are the
principal towns. Surgeres and Aulnay possess fine specimens of the
numerous Romanesque churches. Pons has a graceful chateau of the 15th
and 16th centuries, beside which there rises a fine keep of the 12th
century.
CHARENTON-LE-PONT, a town of northern France in the department of Seine,
situated on the right bank of the Marne, at its confluence with the
Seine, 1 m. S.E. of the fortifications of Paris, of which it is a
suburb. Pop. (1906) 18,034. It derives the distinctive part of its name
from the stone bridge of ten arches which crosses the Marne and unites
the town with Alfortville, well known for its veterinary school founded
in 1766. It has always been regarded as a point of great importance for
the defence of the capital, and has frequently been the scene of
sanguinary conflicts. The fort of Charenton on the left bank of the
Marne is one of the older forts of the Paris defence. In the 16th and
17th centuries Charenton was the scene of the ecclesiastical councils of
the Protestant party, which had its principal church in the town. At St
Maurice adjoining Charenton is the famous Hospice de Charenton, a
lunatic asylum, the foundation of which dates from 1641. Till the time
of the Revolution it was used as a general hospital, and even as a
prison, but from 1802 onwards it was specially appropriated to the
treatment of lunacy. St Maurice has two other national establishments,
one for the victims of accidents in Paris (_asile national Vacassy_),
the other for convalescent working-men (_asile national de Vincennes_).
Charenton has a port on the Canal de St Maurice, beside the Marne, and
carries on boat-building and the manufacture of tiles and porcelain.
CHARES, Athenian general, is first heard of in 366 B.C. as assisting the
Phliasians, who had been attacked by Argos and Sicyon. In 361 he visited
Corcyra, where he helped the oligarchs to expel the democrats, a policy
which led to the subsequent defection of the island from Athens. In 357,
Chares was appointed to the command in the Social War, together with
Chabrias, after whose death before Chios he was associated with
Iphicrates and Timotheus (for the naval battle in the Hellespont, see
TIMOTHEUS). Chares, having successfully thrown the blame for the defeat
on his colleagues, was left sole commander, but receiving no supplies
from Athens, took upon himself to join the revolted satrap Artabazus. A
complaint from the Persian king, who threatened to send three hundred
ships to the assistance of the confederates, led to the conclusion of
peace (355) between Athens and her revolted allies, and the recall of
Chares. In 349, he was sent to the assistance of Olynthus (q.v.) against
Philip II. of Macedon, but returned without having effected anything; in
the following year, when he reached Olynthus, he found it already in the
hands of Philip. In 340 he was appointed to the command of a force sent
to aid Byzantium against Philip, but the inhabitants, remembering his
former plunderings and extortions, refused to receive him. In 338 he was
defeated by Philip at Amphissa, and was one of the commanders at the
disastrous battle of Chaeroneia. Lysicles, one of his colleagues, was
condemned to death, while Chares does not seem to have been even
accused. After the conquest of Thebes by Alexander (335), Chares is said
to have been one of the Athenian orators and generals whose surrender
was demanded. Two years later he was living at Sigeum, for Arrian
(_Anabasis_ i. 12) states that he went from there to pay his respects to
Alexander. In 332 he entered the service of Darius and took over the
command of a Persian force in Mytilene, but capitulated on the approach
of a Macedonian fleet on condition of being allowed to retire
unmolested. He is last heard of at Taenarum, and is supposed to have
died at Sigeum. Although boastful and vain-glorious, Chares was not
lacking in personal courage, and was among the best Athenian generals
of his time. At the best, however, he was "hardly more than an ordinary
leader of mercenaries" (A. Holm). He openly boasted of his profligacy,
was exceedingly avaricious, and his bad faith became proverbial.
Diod. Sic. xv. 75, 95, xvi. 7, 21, 22, 85-88; Plutarch, _Phocion_, 14;
Theopompus, _ap._ Athenaeum, xii. p. 532; A. Schafer, _Demosthenes und
seine Zeit_ (1885); A. Holm, _History of Greece_ (Eng. trans., 1896),
vol. iii.
CHARES, of Lindus in Rhodes, a noted sculptor, who fashioned for the
Rhodians a colossal bronze statue of the sun-god, the cost of which was
defrayed by selling the warlike engines left behind by Demetrius
Poliorcetes, when he abandoned the siege of the city in 303 B.C. (Pliny,
_Nat. Hist._ xxxiv. 41). The colossus was seventy cubits (105 ft.) in
height; and its fingers were larger than many statues. The notion that
the legs were planted apart, so that ships could sail between them, is
absurd. The statue was thrown down by an earthquake after 56 years; but
the remains lay for ages on the spot.
CHARES, of Mytilene, a Greek belonging to the suite of Alexander the
Great. He was appointed court-marshal or introducer of strangers to the
king, an office borrowed from the Persian court. He wrote a history of
Alexander in ten books, dealing mainly with the private life of the
king. The fragments are chiefly preserved in Athenaeus.
See _Scriptores Rerum Alexandri_ (pp. 114-120) in the Didot edition of
Arrian.
CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. _carricare_, to load in a
_carrus_ or wagon; cf. "cargo"), a load; from this, its primary meaning,
also seen in the word "charger," a large dish, come the uses of the word
for the powder and shot to load a firearm, the accumulation of
electricity in a battery, the necessary quantity of dynamite or other
explosive in blasting, and a device borne on an escutcheon in heraldry.
"Charge" can thus mean a burden, and so a care or duty laid upon one, as
in "to be in charge" of another. With a transference to that which lays
such a duty on another, "charge" is used of the instructions given by a
judge to a jury, or by a bishop to the clergy of his diocese. In the
special sense of a pecuniary burden the word is used of the price of
goods, of an encumbrance on property, and of the expenses of running a
business. Further uses of the word are of the violent, rushing attack of
cavalry, or of a bull or elephant, or football player; hence "charger"
is a horse ridden in a charge, or more loosely a horse ridden by an
officer, whether of infantry or cavalry.
CHARGE D'AFFAIRES (Fr. for "in charge of business"), the title of two
classes of diplomatic agents, (1) _Charges d'affaires_ (_ministres
charges d'affaires_), who were placed by the _reglement_ of the congress
of Vienna in the 4th class of diplomatic agents, are heads of permanent
missions accredited to countries to which, for some reason, it is not
possible or not desirable to send agents of a higher rank. They are
distinguished from these latter by the fact that their credentials are
addressed by the minister for foreign affairs of the state which they
are to represent to the minister for foreign affairs of the receiving
state. Though still occasionally accredited, ministers of this class are
now rare. They have precedence over the other class of _charges
d'affaires_. (2) _Charges d'affaires per interim_, or _charges des
affaires_, are those who are presented as such, either verbally or in
writing, by heads of missions of the first, second or third rank to the
minister for foreign affairs of the state to which they are accredited,
when they leave their post temporarily, or pending the arrival of their
successor. It is usual to appoint a counsellor or secretary of legation
_charge d'affaires_. Some governments are accustomed to give the title
of minister to such _charges d'affaires_, which ranks them with the
other heads of legation. Essentially _charges d'affaires_ do not differ
from ambassadors, envoys or ministers resident. They represent their
nation, and enjoy the same privileges and immunities as other diplomatic
agents (see DIPLOMACY).
CHARGING ORDER, in English law, an order obtained from a court or judge
by a judgment creditor under the Judgment Acts 1838 and 1840, by which
the property of the judgment debtor in any stocks or funds stands
charged with the payment of the amount for which judgment shall have
been recovered, with interest. A charging order can only be obtained in
respect of an ascertained sum, but this would include a sum ordered to
be paid at a future date. An order can be made on stock standing in the
name of a trustee in trust for the judgment debtor, or on cash in court
to the credit of the judgment debtor, but not on stock held by a debtor
as a trustee. The application for a charging order is usually made by
motion to a divisional court, though it may be made to a judge. The
effect of the order is not that of a contract to pay the debt, but
merely of an instrument of charge on the shares, signed by the debtor.
An interval of six months must elapse before any proceedings are taken
to enforce the charge, but, it necessary, a stop order on the fund and
the dividends payable by the debtor can be obtained by the creditor to
protect his interest A solicitor employed to prosecute any suit, matter
or proceeding in any court, is entitled, on declaration of the court, to
a charge for his costs upon the property recovered or preserved in such
suit or proceeding. (See _Rules of the Supreme Court_, o. XLIX.)
CHARIBERT (d. 567), king of the Franks, was the son of Clotaire I. On
Clotaire's death in 561 his estates were divided between his sons,
Charibert receiving Paris as his capital, together with Rouen, Tours,
Poitiers, Limoges, Bordeaux and Toulouse. Besides his wife, Ingoberga,
he had unions with Merofleda, a wool-carder's daughter, and Theodogilda,
the daughter of a neatherd. He was one of the most dissolute of the
Merovingian kings, his early death in 567 being brought on by his
excesses. (C. Pf.)
CHARIDEMUS, of Oreus in Euboea, Greek mercenary leader. About 367 B.C.
he fought under the Athenian general Iphicrates against Amphipolis.
Being ordered by Iphicrates to take the Amphipolitan hostages to Athens,
he allowed them to return to their own people, and joined Cotys, king of
Thrace, against Athens. Soon afterwards he fell into the hands of the
Athenians and accepted the offer of Timotheus to re-enter their service.
Having been dismissed by Timotheus (362) he joined the revolted satraps
Memnon and Mentor in Asia, but soon lost their confidence, and was
obliged to seek the protection of the Athenians. Finding, however, that
he had nothing to fear from the Persians, he again joined Cotys, on
whose murder he was appointed guardian to his youthful son Cersobleptes.
In 357, on the arrival of Chares with considerable forces, the
Chersonese was restored to Athens. The supporters of Charidemus
represented this as due to his efforts, and, in spite of the opposition
of Demosthenes, he was honoured with a golden crown and the franchise of
the city. It was further resolved that his person should be inviolable.
In 351 he commanded the Athenian forces in the Chersonese against Philip
II. of Macedon, and in 349 he superseded Chares as commander in the
Olynthian War. He achieved little success, but made himself detested by
his insolence and profligacy, and was in turn replaced by Chares. After
Chaeroneia the war party would have entrusted Charidemus[1] with the
command against Philip, but the peace party secured the appointment of
Phocion. He was one of those whose surrender was demanded by Alexander
after the destruction of Thebes, but escaped with banishment. He fled to
Darius III., who received him with distinction. But, having expressed
his dissatisfaction with the preparations made by the king just before
the battle of Issus (333), he was put to death.
See Diod. Sic. xvii. 30; Plutarch, _Phocion_, 16, 17; Arrian,
_Anabasis_, i. 10; Quintus Curtius iii. 2; Demosthenes, _Contra
Aristocratem_; A. Schafer, _Demosthenes und seine Zeit_ (1885).