[1] Cf. Miss Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_,
chaps. vi., vii., "The Making of a Goddess and of a God."
[2] See Ratzel. _Hist. of Mankind_, ii. 147-148; Breysig, _Die
Entstehung des Gottesgedankens_ (1905), pp. 10-12.
[3] See Chamberlain, _Journ. of American Folklore_, iv. 208-209
(analysis of Perrot's account); Brinton, _Myths of the New World_,
pp. 176-179; Breysig, op. cit., pp. 15-20.
[4] On Michabo see Brinton, op. cit. (1876), pp. 176 ff., _Essays of
an Americanist_ (1890), p. 132. This scholar holds that "Michabo" has
properly nothing to do with "Great Hare," but should be translated
"the Great White One," i.e. the light of the dawn. The Algonkins,
however, thought otherwise, and the myth itself suggests a
theriomorphic earth-maker.
[5] See Schoolcraft, _Myth of Hiawatha_ (1856), pp. 35-39; and cf.
the myth of Manabush, analysed in _Journ. of Amer. Folklore_, iv.
210-213.
[6] The latest explanation of Joskeha is "dear little sprout," and of
Tawiscara, "the ice-one," while Aataentsic becomes "she of the
swarthy body." Hewitt, _Journ. of Amer. Folklore_, x. 68. Brebeuf
(1635) says that Iouskeha gives growth and fair weather (Tylor,
_Prim. Cult._ i. 294).
[7] See Jeremias, _Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients_,
p. 121, 1; Winckler, _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_[3],
p. 333.
[8] Reville, _Religions of Mexico and Peru_, p. 129.
[9] Garcilasso el Inca, _Comment. de los Incas_, lib. ii. c. 2; cf.
Lang, _The Making of Religion_, pp. 262-270.
[10] Reville, p. 187.
[11] Reville, p. 158. Garcilasso (lib. i. c. 18) says that Manco
Capac "taught the subject nations to be men," and also founded the
imperial city of Cuzco ( = navel).
[12] _De las antiquas gentes del Peru_ (ed. 1892), pp. 55, 56.
[13] See especially Waitz-Gerland, _Anthropologie der Naturvolker_,
vi. 229-302; Gill, _Myths and Songs of the South Pacific_; Schirren,
_Wandersagen der Neuseelander_; also an older work (Sir George)
Grey's _Polynesian Mythology_.
[14] See Schirren, op. cit., pp. 64-89.
[15] J. Muir, _Metrical Translations_, pp. 188-189.
[16] J. Muir, _Sanscrit Texts_, iv. 26.
[17] See Tylor, _Early History of Mankind_, p. 340; _Primitive
Culture_, i. 329; Oldenberg, _Religion des Veda_, pp. 85 f.
[18] See Maspero, _Dawn of Civilization_, p. 127; also Brugoch,
_Religion und Mythologie der alten Agypter_.
[19] See illustration in Maspero, p. 157.
[20] See Maspero, pp. 146-147.
[21] Maspero, pp. 160-169.
[22] See ZOROASTER, and cf. _Ency. Bib._, "Creation," S 9:
"Zoroastrianism," SS 20, 21.
[23] West, _Pahlavi Texts_ (S.B.E.), vol. i., introd. p. xxiii. We
need not deny that, late as the Bundahish may be as a whole, the
traditions which it contains are often old.
[24] Fragments of older works are cited by Philo of Byblus (in
Eusebius, _Praep. Evang._ i. 10) and Mochus and Endemus (in
Damascius, _De primis principiis_, c. 125).
[25] See Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 428.
[26] See _Bundahish_, xv. 2 (_S.B.E._, v. 53).
COSMOPOLITAN (Gr. [Greek: kosmos], world, and [Greek: polites],
citizen), of or belonging to a "citizen of the world," i.e. one whose
sympathies, interests, whether commercial, political or social, and
culture are not confined to the nation or race to which he may belong,
opposed therefore to "national" or "insular." As an attribute the word
may be applied to a cultured man of the world, who has travelled widely
and is at home in many forms of civilization, to such races as the
Jewish, scattered through the civilized world, yet keeping beneath their
cosmopolitanism the racial type pure, and also to mark a profound line
of cleavage in economic and political thought.
COSNE, a town of central France, capital of an arrondissement in the
department of Nievre, on the right bank of the Loire at its junction
with the Nohain, 37 m. N.N.W. of Nevers by the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop.
(1906) town, 5750; commune, 8437. Two suspension bridges unite it to the
left bank of the Loire. The church of St Aignan is a building of the
12th century, restored in the 16th and 18th centuries; the only portions
in the Romanesque style are the apse and the north-west portal. It
formerly belonged to a Benedictine priory depending on the abbey of La
Charite (Nievre). The manufacture of files, flour-milling and tanning
are carried on in the town which has a subprefecture, a tribunal of
first instance and a communal college. Cosne is mentioned in the
Antonine Itinerary under the name of _Condate_, but it was not till the
middle ages that it rose into importance as a military post. In the 12th
century the bishop of Auxerre and the count of Nevers agreed to a
division of the supremacy over the town and its territory.
COSSA, LUIGI (1831-1896), Italian economist, was born at Milan on the
27th of May 1831. Educated at the universities of Pavia, Vienna and
Leipzig, he was appointed professor of political economy at Pavia in
1858. He died at Pavia on the 10th of May 1896. Cossa was the author of
several works which established for him a high reputation; including
_Scienza delle finanze_ (1875, English translation 1888 under title
_Taxation, its Principles and Methods_); _Guida allo studio dell'
economia politica_ (1876, English translation 1880), an admirable
compendium of the theoretical preliminaries of economics, with a brief
critical history of the science and an excellent bibliography;
_Introduzione allo studio dell' economia politica_, (1876, English
translation by L. Dyer, 1893); and _Saggi di economia politica_, 1878.
COSSA, PIETRO (1830-1880), Italian dramatist, was born at Rome in 1830,
and claimed descent from the family of Pope John XXIII., deposed by the
council of Constance. He manifested an independent spirit from his
youth, and was expelled from a Jesuit school on the double charge of
indocility and patriotism. After fighting for the Roman republic in
1849, he emigrated to South America, but failing to establish himself
returned to Italy, and lived precariously as a literary man until 1870,
when his reputation was established by the unexpected success of his
first acted tragedy, _Nero_. From this time to his death in 1880 Cossa
continued to produce a play a year, usually upon some classical subject.
_Cleopatra_, _Messalina_, _Julian_, enjoyed great popularity, and his
dramas on subjects derived from Italian history, _Rienzi_ and _The
Borgias_, were also successful. _Plautus_, a comedy, was preferred by
the author himself, and is more original. Cossa had neither the
divination which would have enabled him to reconstruct the ancient
world, nor the imagination which would have enabled him to idealize it.
But he was an energetic writer, never tame or languid, and at the same
time able to command the attention of an audience without recourse to
melodramatic artifice; while his sonorous verse, if scarcely able to
support the ordeal of the closet, is sufficiently near to poetry for the
purposes of the stage.
His collected _Teatro poetico_ was published in 1887.
COSSACKS (Russ. _Kazak_; plural, _Kazaki_, from the Turki _quzz[=a]q_,
"adventurer, free-booter"), the name given to considerable portions of
the population of the Russian empire, endowed with certain special
privileges, and bound in return to give military service, all at a
certain age, under special conditions. They constitute ten separate
_voiskos_, settled along the frontiers: Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan,
Ural, Orenburg, Siberian, Semiryechensk, Amur and Usuri. The primary
unit of this organization is the _stanitsa_, or village, which holds its
land as a commune, and may allow persons who are not Cossacks (excepting
Jews) to settle on this land for payment of a certain rent. The assembly
of all householders in villages of less than 30 households, and of 30
elected men in villages having from 30 to 300 households (one from each
10 households in the more populous ones), constitutes the village
assembly, similar to the _mir_, but having wider attributes, which
assesses the taxes, divides the land, takes measures for the opening and
support of schools, village grain-stores, communal cultivation, and so
on, and elects its _ataman_ (elder) and its judges, who settle all
disputes up to L10 (or above that sum with the consent of both sides).
Military service is obligatory for all men, for 20 years, beginning with
the age of 18. The first 3 years are passed in the preliminary division,
the next 12 in active service, and the last 5 years in the reserve.
Every Cossack is bound to procure his own uniform, equipment and horse
(if mounted)--the government supplying only the arms. Those on active
service are divided into three equal parts according to age, and the
first third only is in real service, while the two others stay at home,
but are bound to march out as soon as an order is given. The officers
are supplied in the usual way by the military schools, in which all
Cossack _voiskos_ have their own vacancies, or are non-commissioned
Cossack officers, with officers' grades. In return for this service the
Cossacks have received from the state considerable grants of land for
each _voisko_ separately.
The total Cossack population in 1893 was 2,648,049 (1,331,470 women),
and they owned nearly 146,500,000 acres of land, of which 105,000,000
acres were arable and 9,400,000 under forests. This land was divided
between the _stanitsas_, at the rate of 81 acres per each soul, with
special grants to officers (personal to some of them, _in lieu_ of
pensions), and leaving about one-third of the land as a reserve for the
future. The income which the Cossack _voiskos_ receive from the lands
which they rent to different persons, also from various sources (trade
patents, rents of shops, fisheries, permits of gold-digging, &c.), as
also from the subsidies they receive from the government (about
L712,500 in 1893), is used to cover all the expenses of state and local
administration. They have besides a special reserve capital of about
L2,600,000. The expenditure of the village administration is covered by
village taxes. The general administration is kept separately for each
_voisko_, and differs with the different _voiskos_. The central
administration, at the Ministry of War, is composed of representatives
of each _voisko_, who discuss the proposals of all new laws affecting
the Cossacks. In time of war the ten Cossack _voiskos_ are bound to
supply 890 mounted _sotnias_ or squadrons (of 125 men each), 108
infantry _sotnias_ or companies (same number), and 236 guns,
representing 4267 officers and 177,100 men, with 170,695 horses. In time
of peace they keep 314 squadrons, 54 infantry _sotnias_, and 20
batteries containing 108 guns (2574 officers, 60,532 men, 50,054
horses). Altogether, the Cossacks have 328,705 men ready to take arms in
case of need. As a rule, popular education amongst the Cossacks stands
at a higher level than in the remainder of Russia. They have more
schools and a greater proportion of their children go to school. In
addition to agriculture, which (with the exception of the Usuri
Cossacks) is sufficient to supply their needs and usually to leave a
certain surplus, they carry on extensive cattle and horse breeding, vine
culture in Caucasia, fishing on the Don, the Ural, and the Caspian,
hunting, bee-culture, &c. The extraction of coal, gold and other
minerals which are found on their territories is mostly rented to
strangers, who also own most factories.
A military organization similar to that of the Cossacks has been
introduced into certain districts, which supply a number of mounted
infantry _sotnias_. Their peace-footing is as follows:--Daghestan, 6
regular squadrons and 3 of militia; Kuban Circassians, 1 _sotnia_;
Terek, 8 _sotnias_; Kars, 3 _sotnias_; Batum, 2 infantry and 1 mounted
_sotnia_; Turkomans, 3 _sotnias_; total, 25 squadrons and 2 companies.
For the origin and history of the Cossacks see POLAND: History, and
the biographies of Razin, Chmielnicki and Mazepa. (P. A. K.)
COSSIMBAZAR, or KASIMBAZAR, a decayed town on the river Bhagirathi in
the Murshidabad district of Bengal, India, now included in the Berhampur
municipality. Pop. (1901) 1262. Though the history of the place cannot
be traced back earlier than the 17th century, it was of great importance
long before the foundation of Murshidabad. From the first European
traders set up factories here, and after the ruin of Satgaon by the
silting up of the mouth of the Saraswati it gained a position, as the
great trading centre of Bengal, which was not challenged until after the
foundation of Calcutta. In 1658 the first English agent was established
at Cossimbazar, and in 1667 the chief of the factory there became an
_ex-officio_ member of council. In English documents of this period, and
till the early 19th century, the Bhagirathi was described as the
Cossimbazar river, and the triangular piece of land between the
Bhagirathi, Padma and Jalangi, on which the city stands, as the island
of Cossimbazar. The proximity of the factory to Murshidabad, the
Mahommedan capital, while it was the main source of its wealth and of
its political importance, exposed it to constant danger. Thus in 1757 it
was the first to be taken by Suraj-ud-dowlah, the nawab; ana the
resident with his assistant (Warren Hastings) were taken as prisoners to
Murshidabad.
At the beginning of the 19th century the city still flourished; so late
as 1811 it was described as famous for its silks, hosiery, _koras_ and
beautiful ivory work. But an insidious change in its once healthy
climate had begun to work its decay; the area of cultivated land round
it had shrunk to vanishing point, jungle haunted by wild beasts taking
its place; and in 1813 its ruin was completed by a sudden change in the
course of the Bhagirathi, which formed a new channel 3 m. from the old
town, leaving an evil-smelling swamp around the ancient wharves. Of its
splendid buildings the fine palace of the maharaja of Cossimbazar alone
remains, the rest being in ruins or represented only by great mounds of
earth. The first wife of Warren Hastings was buried at Cossimbazar,
where her tomb with its inscription still remains.
See _Imp. Gaz. of India_ (Oxford, 1908), s.v.
COSTA, GIOVANNI (1826-1903), Italian painter, was born in Rome. He
fought under Garibaldi in 1848, and served as a volunteer in the war of
1859; and his enthusiasm for Italian unity was actively shown again in
1870, when he was the first to mount the breach in the assault of Rome
near the Porta Pia. He had settled meanwhile at Florence, where his
fight for the independence of art from worn-out traditions was no less
strenuous, and he became known as a landscape-painter of remarkable
originality, and of great influence in the return to minute observation
of nature. He had many English friends and followers, notably Matthew
Ridley Corbet (1850-1902), and Lord Carlisle, and was closely associated
with Corot and the Barbizon school. In later years he lived and worked
mainly in Rome, where his studio was an important centre. An exhibition
of his pictures was held in London in 1904, and he is represented in the
Tate Gallery. He died at Rome in 1903.
See also Madame Agresti's _Giovanni Costa_ (1904).
COSTA, LORENZO (1460-1535), Italian painter, was born at Ferrara, but
went in early life to Bologna and ranks with the Bolognese school. In
1438 he painted his famous "Madonna and Child with the Bentivoglio
family," and other frescoes, on the walls of the Bentivoglio chapel in
San Giacomo Maggiore, and he followed this with many other works. He was
a great friend of Francia, who was much influenced by him. In 1509 he
went to Mantua, where his patron was the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga, and
he eventually died there. His "Madonna and Child enthroned" is in the
National Gallery, London, but his chief works are at Bologna. His sons,
Ippolito (1506-1561) and Girolamo, were also painters, and so was
Girolamo's son Lorenzo the younger (1537-1583).
COSTA, SIR MICHAEL ANDREW AGNUS (1808-1884), British musical conductor
and composer, the son of Cavaliere Pasquale Costa, a Spaniard, was born
at Naples on the 14th of February 1808. Here he became at an early age a
scholar at the Royal College of Music. His cantata _L'Immagine_ was
composed when he was fifteen. In 1826 he wrote his first opera _Il
Delitto Punito_; in 1827 another opera _Il sospetto funesto_. To this
period belong also his oratorio _La Passione_, a grand Mass for four
voices, a _Dixit Dominus_, and three symphonies. The opera _Il Carcere
d'Ildegonda_ was composed in 1828 for the Teatro Nuovo, and in 1829
Costa wrote his _Malvina_ for Barbaja, the impresario of San Carlo. In
this latter year he visited Birmingham to conduct Zingarelli's _Cantata
Sacra_, a setting of some verses from Isaiah ch. xii. Instead, however,
of conducting, he sang the tenor part. In 1830 he settled in London,
having a connexion with the King's theatre. His ballet _Kenilworth_ was
written in 1831, the ballet _Une Heure a Naples_ in 1832, and the ballet
_Sir Huon_ (composed for Taglioni) in 1833. In this latter year he wrote
his famous quartet _Ecco quel fiero istante. Malek Adhel_, an opera, was
produced in Paris in 1837. In 1842 he wrote the ballet music of _Alma_
for Cerito, and in 1844 his opera _Don Carlos_ was produced in London.
Costa became a naturalized Englishman and received the honour of
knighthood in 1869. He conducted the opera at Her Majesty's from 1832
till 1846, when he seceded to the Italian Opera at Covent Garden; he was
conductor of the Philharmonic Society from 1846 to 1854, of the Sacred
Harmonic Society from 1848, and of the Birmingham festival from 1849. In
1855 Costa wrote _Eli_, and in 1864 _Naaman_, both for Birmingham.
Meanwhile he had conducted the Bradford (1853) and Handel festivals
(1857-1880), and the Leeds festivals from 1874 to 1880. On the 29th of
April 1884 he died at Brighton. Costa was the great conductor of his
day, but both his musical and his human sympathies were somewhat
limited; his compositions have passed into oblivion, with the exception
of the least admirable of them--his arrangement of the national anthem.
COSTAKI, ANTHOPOULOS (1835-1902), Turkish pasha, was born in 1835. He
became a professor at the Turkish naval college; then entered the legal
branch of the Turkish service, rising to the post of _procureur
imperial_ at the court of cassation. He was governor-general of Crete;
and in 1895 was appointed Ottoman ambassador in London, a post which he
continued to hold until his death at Constantinople in 1902. He bore
throughout his career the reputation of an intelligent and upright
public servant.
COSTANZO, ANGELO DI (c 1507-1591), Italian historian and poet, was born
at Naples about 1507. He lived in a literary circle, and fell in love
with the beautiful Vittoria Colonna. His great work, _Le Istorie del
regno di Napoli dal 1250 fino al 1498_, first appeared at Naples in
1572, and was the fruit of thirty or forty years' labour; but nine more
years were devoted to the task before it was issued in its final form at
Aquila (1581). It is still one of the best histories of Naples, and the
style is distinguished by clearness, simplicity and elegance. The _Rime_
of di Costanzo are remarkable for finical taste, for polish and frequent
beauty of expression, and for strict obedience to the poetical canons of
his time.
See G. Tiraboschi, _Storia della letteratura italiana_, vol. vii.
(Florence, 1812).
COSTA RICA, a republic of Central America, bounded on the N. by
Nicaragua, E. by the Caribbean Sea, S.E. and S. by Panama, S.W., W. and
N.W. by the Pacific Ocean. (For map, see CENTRAL AMERICA.) The territory
thus enclosed has an area of about 18,500 sq. m., and may be roughly
described as an elevated tableland, intersected by lofty mountain
ranges, with their main axis trending from N.W. to S.E. It is fringed,
along the coasts, by low-lying marshes and lagoons, alternating with
tracts of rich soil and wastes of sand.
_Physical Description._--The northern frontier, drawn 2 m. S. of the
southern shores of the river San Juan and of Lake Nicaragua, terminates
at Salinas Bay on the Pacific; its southern frontier skirts the valley
of the Sixola or Tiliri, strikes south-east along the crests of the
Talamanca Mountains as far as 9 deg. N., and then turns sharply south,
ending in Burica Point. The monotonous Atlantic littoral is unbroken by
any large inlet or estuary, and thus contrasts in a striking manner with
the varied outlines of the Pacific coast, which includes the three bold
promontories of Nicoya, Golfo Dulce and Burica, besides the broad sweep
of Coronada Bay and several small harbours. The Gulf of Nicoya, a
shallow landlocked inlet, containing a whole archipelago of
richly-wooded islets, derives its name from Nicoya, an Indian chief who,
with his tribe, was here converted to Christianity in the 16th century.
It is famous for its purple-yielding murex, pearls and mother-of-pearl.
The Golfo Dulce has an average depth of 100 fathoms and contains no
islands. Two volcanic _Cordilleras_ or mountain chains, separated from
one another by the central plateau of San Jose and Cartago, traverse the
interior of Costa Rica, and form a single watershed, often precipitous
on its Pacific slope, but descending more gradually towards the
Atlantic, where there is a broad expanse of plain in the north-east. The
more northerly range, in which volcanic disturbances on a great scale
have been comparatively recent, extends transversely across the country,
from a point a little south of Salinas Bay, to the headland of Carreta,
the southern extremity of the Atlantic seaboard, also known as Monkey
Point. Its direction changes from south-east to east-south-east opposite
to the entrance into the Gulf of Nicoya, where it is cut into two
sections by a depression some 20 m. wide. At first it is rather a
succession of isolated volcanic cones than a continuous ridge, the most
conspicuous peaks being Orosi (5185 ft.), the four-crested Rincon de la
Vieja (4500), Miravalles (4698) and Tenorio (6800). In this region it is
known as the Sierra de Tilaran. Then succeed the Cerros de los Guatusos,
a highland stretching for more than 50 m. without a single volcano. Poas
(8895), the scene of a violent eruption in 1834, begins a fresh series
of igneous peaks, some with flooded craters, some with a constant escape
of smoke and vapour. From Irazu (11,200), the culminating point of the
range, both oceans and the whole of Costa Rica are visible; its altitude
exceeds that of Aneto, the highest point in the Pyrenees, but so gradual
is its acclivity that the summit can easily be reached by a man on
horseback. Turialba (10,910), adjoining Irazu on the east, was in
eruption in 1866. Its name, though probably of Indian origin, is
sometimes written Turrialba, and connected with the Latin _Turris Alba_,
"White Tower." The more southerly of the two Costa Rican ranges, known
as the Cordillera de Talamanca, rises south of the Gulf of Nicoya, and
extends midway between the two oceans towards the south-east. It follows
exactly the curve of the mainland, and is continued into Panama, under
the name of the Cordillera de Chiriqui. Its chief summits are Chirripo
Grande (11,485), the loftiest in the whole country, Buena Vista
(10,820), Ujum (8695), Pico Blanco (9645) and Rovalo (7050), on the
borders of Panama. Throughout the volcanic area earthquakes and
landslides are of frequent occurrence.
The narrowness of the level ground between the mountains and the sea
renders almost impossible the formation of any navigable river. The most
important streams are those of the Atlantic seaboard, notably the San
Juan, which drains Lake Nicaragua. Issuing from the lake within
Nicaraguan territory, the San Juan has a course of 95 m., mostly along
the frontier, to the Colorado Mouth, which is its main outfall, and
belongs wholly to Costa Rica. Its chief right-hand tributaries are the
San Carlos and Sarapiqui. The Reventazon, or Parismina, flows from the
central plateau to the Caribbean Sea; despite the shortness of its
valley, its volume is considerable, owing to the prevalence of moist
trade-winds near its sources. Six small streams and one large river, the
Rio Frio, flow across the northern frontier into Lake Nicaragua. On the
Pacific coast all the rivers are rapid and liable to sudden floods. None
is large, although three bear the prefix _Rio Grande_, "great river."
The Tempisque enters the Pacific at the head of the Gulf of Nicoya, and
tends to silt up that already shallow inlet (5-10 fathoms) with its
alluvial deposits. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles also enters the gulf, and
the Rio Grande de Pirris and Rio Grande de Terrabis or Diquis flow into
Coronada Bay. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles rises close to the Ochomogo
Pass and the sources of the Reventazon, at the base of Irazu; and the
headwaters of these two streams indicate precisely the depression in the
central plateau which severs the northern from the southern mountains.
Costa Rica is not differentiated from the neighbouring lands by any very
marked peculiarities of geological formation, or of plant and animal
life. Its geology, flora and fauna are therefore described under Central
America (q.v.).
_Climate._--Owing to the proximity of two oceans, and the varied
configuration of the surface of Costa Rica, an area of a few square
miles may exhibit the most striking extremes of climate; but, over the
entire country, it is possible to distinguish three climatic
zones--tropical, temperate and cold. These generally succeed one another
as the altitude increases, although the heat is greater at the same
elevation on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast. It is, however,
less oppressive, as cool breezes prevail and damp is comparatively rare.
The tropical zone comprises the coast and the foothills, and ranges, in
its mean annual temperature, from 72 deg. F. to 82 deg.. In the San Jose
plateau (3000-5000 ft.), which is the most densely populated portion of
the temperate zone, the average is 68 deg., with an average variation
for all seasons of only 5 deg.. Above 7500 ft. frosts are frequent, but
snow rarely falls. The wet season, lasting during the prevalence of the
south-west monsoon, from April to December, is clearly defined on the
Pacific slope. It is curiously interrupted by a fortnight of dry
weather, known as the _Veranillo de San Juan_, in June. Towards the
Atlantic the trade-winds may bring rain in any month. Winter lasts from
December to February. The normal rainfall is about 80 in., but as
cloud-bursts are common, it may rise to 150 in. or even more. Rheumatism
on the Atlantic seaboard, and malaria on both coasts, are the commonest
forms of disease; but, as a whole, Costa Rica is one of the healthiest
of tropical lands.
_Population._--In 1904, according to the official returns, the total
population numbered 331,340; having increased by more than one-fourth in
a decade. Spanish, with various modifications of dialect, and the
introduction of many Indian words, is the principal language; and the
majority of the inhabitants claim descent from the Spanish
colonists--chiefly Galicians--who came hither during the 16th and
subsequent centuries. The percentage of Spanish blood is greater than in
the other Central American republics; but there is also a large
population of half-castes (_ladinos_ or _mestizos_) due to intermarriage
with native Indians. The resident foreigners, who are mostly Spaniards,
Italians, Germans and British subjects, numbered less than 8000 in 1904;
immigration is, however, encouraged by the easy terms on which land can
be purchased from the state. The native Indians, though exterminated in
many districts, and civilized in others, remain in a condition of
complete savagery along parts of the Nicaraguan border, where they are
known as Prazos or Guatusos, in the Talamanca country and elsewhere.
Their numbers may be estimated at 4000. They are a quiet and inoffensive
folk, who dwell in stockaded encampments, and preserve their ancestral
language and customs. For an account of early Indian civilization in
Costa Rica, see CENTRAL AMERICA: Archaeology. The Mosquito Indians come
every summer to fish for turtle off the Atlantic coast. As only 200
negroes were settled in Costa Rica when slavery was abolished in 1824,
and no important increase ever took place through immigration, the black
population is remarkably small, amounting only to some 1200.
_Chief Towns and Communications._--The whites are congregated in or near
the chief towns, which include the capital, San Jose (pop. 1904 about
24,500), the four provincial capitals of Alajuela (4860), Cartago
(4536), Heredia (7151) and Liberia or Guanacaste (2831), with the
seaportsof Puntarenas (3569), on the Pacific, and Limon (3171) on the
Atlantic. These, with the exception of Heredia and Liberia, are
described in separate articles. The transcontinental railway from Limon
to Puntarenas was begun in 1871, and forms the nucleus of a system
intended ultimately to connect all the fertile parts of the country, and
to join the railways of Nicaragua and Panama. It skirts the Atlantic
coast as far as the small port of Matina; thence it passes inland to
Reventazon, and bifurcates to cross the northern mountains; one branch
going north of Irazu, while the other traverses the Ochomogo Pass. At
San Jose these lines reunite, and the railway is continued to Alajuela,
the small Pacific port of Tivives, and Puntarenas. The railways are
owned partly by the state, partly by the Costa Rica railway company,
which, in 1904, arranged to build several branch lines through the
banana districts of the Atlantic littoral. Apart from the main lines of
communication the roads are very rough, often mere tracks; and the
principal means of transport are ox-carts or pack-mules. The postal and
telegraphic services are also somewhat inadequate.
_Agriculture and Industries._--The name "Costa Rica," meaning "rich
coast," is well deserved; for, owing to the combination of ample
sunshine and moisture with a wonderfully fertile soil, almost any kind
of fruit or flower can be successfully cultivated; while the vast tracts
of virgin forest, which remain along the Atlantic slopes, contain an
abundance of cedar, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and ebony, with fustic
and other precious dye-woods. The country is essentially agricultural,
and owes its political stability to the presence of a large class of
peasant proprietors, who number more than two-thirds of the population.
Coffee, first planted in 1838, is grown chiefly on the plateau of San
Jose. The special adaptability of this region to its growth is
attributed to the nature of the soil, which consists of layers of black
or dark-brown volcanic ash, varying in depth from 1 to 6 yds. Bananas
are grown over a large and increasing area; rice, maize, barley,
potatoes and beans are cultivated to some extent in the interior; cocoa,
vanilla, sugar-cane, cotton and indigo are products of the warm
coast-lands, but are hardly raised in sufficient quantities to meet the
local demand. Stock-farming, a relatively undeveloped industry, tends to
become more important, owing to the assistance which the state renders
by the importation of horses, cattle, sheep and swine, from Europe and
the United States, in order to improve the native breeds. In the
south-east farmers are often compelled to retire with their flocks and
herds before the thousands of huge, migratory vampires, which descend
suddenly on the pastures and are able in one night to bleed the
strongest animal to death. The manufactures are insignificant; and
although silver, copper, iron, zinc, lead and marble are said to exist
in considerable quantities, the only ores that have been worked are
gold, silver and copper. At the beginning of the 20th century the silver
and copper mines had been abandoned. The goldfields are exploited with
American capital, and yield a fair return.
_Commerce._--The exports, which comprise coffee, bananas, cocoa,
cabinet-woods and dye-woods, with hides and skins, mother-of-pearl,
tortoiseshell and gold, were officially valued at L1,398,000 in 1904;
and in the same year the imports, including foodstuffs, dry goods and
hardware, were valued at L1,229,000. Over L1,250,000 worth of the
exports consisted of coffee and bananas, and these commodities were of
almost equal value. Nearly 85% of the coffee, or more than 20,000,000
lb., were sent to Great Britain. The development of the banana trade
dates from 1881, when 3500 bunches of fruit were exported to New
Orleans. This total increased very rapidly, and in 1902 a monthly
service of steamers was established from Limon to Bristol and
Manchester. The service to England soon became a weekly one, while there
are at least three weekly sailings to the United States. In 1904 the
number of bunches sent abroad exceeded 6,000,000. So important is this
crop that the rate of wages to labourers in the banana districts is
nearly 3s. daily, as compared with an average of 1s. 8d. in the coffee
plantations. The bulk of the imports comes from the United States (52%
in 1904), Great Britain (19%) and Germany (13%). Almost the whole
foreign trade passes through Limon and Puntarenas. In 1904, exclusive of
banana steamers, there were regular steamship services weekly from Limon
to the United States and Germany, fortnightly to Great Britain, and
monthly to France, Italy and Spain; while at Puntarenas four American
liners called monthly on the voyage between San Francisco and Panama.
_Finance._--The valuable resources of the republic, and its comparative
immunity from revolution, formerly attracted the attention of European
and American investors, who supplied the capital for internal
development. In 1871 the government contracted a loan of L1,000,000 in
London, and in 1872 it borrowed an additional L2,400,000 for railway
construction. The outstanding foreign debt amounted in 1887 to
L2,691,300, while the arrears of interest were no less than L2,119,500.
An arrangement with the creditors was concluded in 1888; but in 1895 the
republic again became bankrupt, and a fresh arrangement was sanctioned
in March 1897, by which the interest on L1,475,000 was reduced to 2-1/2%
and that on L525,000 to 3%. It was provided that amortization, at
L10,000 yearly, should begin in 1917. In 1904 the service of the
external debt, which then amounted to L2,500,000, including L500,000
arrears of interest, was again suspended; the total of the internal debt
was L815,000. About one-half of the national revenue is derived from
customs, the remainder being principally furnished by railways, stamps,
and the salt and tobacco monopolies. In the financial year 1904-1905 the
revenue was L503,000, the expenditure L390,000. Education, internal
development and the service of the internal debt were the chief sources
of expenditure.
_Money and Credit._--There are three important banks, the Anglo-Costa
Rican Bank, with a capital of L120,000, the Bank of Costa Rica
(L200,000), and the Commercial Bank of Costa Rica (L100,000), founded in
1905. On the 25th of April 1900 a law was enacted for the regulation of
the constitution, capital, note emission and metallic reserves of banks.
On the 24th of October 1896 an act was passed for the adoption of a gold
coinage, and the execution of this act was decreed on the 17th of April
1900. The monetary unit is the gold colon weighing .778 gramme, .900
fine, and thus worth about 23d. It is legally equivalent to the silver
peso, which continues in circulation. The gold coins of the United
States, Great Britain, France and Germany are legally current. The
metric system of weights and measures was introduced by law in 1884, but
the old Spanish system is still in use.
_Constitution and Government._--Costa Rica is governed under a
constitution of 1870, which, however, only came into force in 1882, and
has often been modified. The legislative power resides in a House of
Representatives, consisting of about 30 to 40 deputies, or one for every
8000 inhabitants. The deputies are chosen for a term of four years by
local electoral colleges, whose members are returned by the votes of all
self-supporting citizens. One-half of the chamber retires automatically
every two years. The president and three vice-presidents constitute the
executive. They are assisted by a cabinet of four ministers,
representing the departments of the interior, police and public works;
foreign affairs, justice, religion and education; finance and commerce;
war and marine. For purposes of local administration the state is
divided into five provinces, Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia and
San Jose, and two maritime districts (_comarcas_), Limon and Puntarenas.
All these divisions except Guanacaste--which takes its name from a
variety of mimosa very common in the province--are synonymous with their
chief towns; and each is controlled by a governor or prefect appointed
by the president. Justice is administered by a supreme court, two courts
of appeal, and the court of cassation, which sit in San Jose, and are
supplemented by various inferior tribunals.
_Religion and Education._--The Roman Catholic Church is supported by the
state, and the vast majority of the people accept its doctrines; but
complete religious liberty is guaranteed by the constitution. The
Jesuits, who formerly exercised widespread influence, were expelled in
1884. Of the other religious communities, the most important are the
Protestants, numbering 3000, and the Buddhists, about 250. Primary
education is free and compulsory; the standard of attendance is high and
the instruction fair, but a large proportion of the older inhabitants
were illiterate at the beginning of the 20th century. In the matter of
secondary education considerable neglect has been shown. In 1904 there
were only six secondary schools, including the institute of law and
medicine and the training-school for teachers at San Jose. The state
grants scholarships tenable at European universities to promising
pupils, and there are three important public libraries.
_Defence._--Military service in time of war is compulsory for all
able-bodied citizens aged 18-50. There are a permanent army, of about
600; a militia, comprising an active service branch to which all under
40 belong, with a reserve for those between 40 and 50; and a national
guard, including all males under 18 and over 50 who are capable of
bearing arms. On a war footing these forces would number about 36,000. A
gunboat and a torpedo boat constitute the navy, which, however, requires
the services of an admiral, subordinate to the ministry of marine.
_History._--The origin of the name _Costa Rica_ (Spanish for "Rich
Coast") has been much disputed. It is often stated that the territories
to which the name is now applied were first known as _Nueva Cartago_,
while _Costa Rica_ was used in a wider sense to designate the whole
south-western coast of the Caribbean Sea, from the supposed mineral
wealth of this region. Then, in 1540, the name was restricted to an area
approximately equal to that of modern Costa Rica. In such a case it must
have been bestowed ironically, for the country proved very unprofitable
to the gold-seekers, who were its earliest European settlers. Col.
Church, in the paper cited below, derives it from _Costa de Oreja_,
"Earring Coast," in allusion to the earrings worn by the Indians and
remarked by their conquerors. He quotes evidence to show that this name
was known to 16th-century cartographers.
With the rest of Central America, Costa Rica remained a province of the
Spanish captaincy-general of Guatemala until 1821. Its conquest was
completed by 1530, and ten years later it was made a separate province,
the limits of which were fixed, by order of Philip II., between 1560 and
1573. This task was principally executed by Juan Vazquez de Coronado (or
Vasquez de Coronada), an able and humane governor appointed in 1562,
whose civilizing work was undone by the almost uninterrupted
maladministration of his fifty-eight successors. The Indians were
enslaved, and their welfare was wholly subordinated to the quest for
gold. From 1666 onwards both coasts were ravaged by pirates, who
completed the ruin of the country. Diego de la Haya y Fernandez,
governor in 1718, reported to the crown that no province of Spanish
America was in so wretched a condition. Cocoa-beans were the current
coinage. Tomas de Acosta, governor from 1797 to 1809, confirmed this
report, and stated that the Indians were clothed in bark, and compelled
in many cases to borrow even this primitive attire when the law required
their attendance at church.
On the 15th of September 1821 Costa Rica, with the other Central
American provinces, revolted and joined the Mexican empire under the
dynasty of Iturbide; but this subjection never became popular, and, on
the establishment of a Mexican republic in 1823, hostilities broke out
between the Conservatives, who desired to maintain the union, and the
Liberals, who wished to set up an independent republic. The opposing
factions met near the Ochomogo Pass; the republicans were victorious,
and the seat of government was transferred from Cartago, the old
capital, to San Jose, the Liberal headquarters. From 1824 to 1839 Costa
Rica joined the newly formed Republic of the United States of Central
America; but the authority of the central government proved little more
than nominal, and the Costa Ricans busied themselves with trade and
abstained from politics. The exact political status of the country was
not, however, definitely assured until 1848, when an independent
republic was again proclaimed. In 1856-60 the state was involved in war
with the adventurer William Walker (see CENTRAL AMERICA); but its
subsequent history has been one of immunity from political disturbances,
other than boundary disputes, and occasional threats of revolution, due
chiefly to unsatisfactory economic conditions. The attempt of J. R.
Barrios, president of Guatemala, to restore federal unity to Central
America failed in 1885, and had little influence on Costa Rican affairs.
In 1897 the state joined the Greater Republic of Central America,
established in 1895 by Honduras, Nicaragua and Salvador, but dissolved
in 1898. The boundary question between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was
referred to the arbitration of the president of the United States, who
gave his award in 1888, confirming a treaty of 1858; further
difficulties arising from the work of demarcation were settled by treaty
in 1896. The boundary between Costa Rica and Panama (then a province of
Colombia) was fixed by the arbitration of the French president, who gave
his award on the 15th of September 1900. The frontiers delimited in
accordance with these awards have already been described.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--In addition to the works on Central America cited under
that heading, the following give much general information: G.
Niederlein, _The Republic of Costa Rica_ (Philadelphia, 1898); R.
Villafranca, _Costa Rica_ (New York, 1895); L. Z. Baron, _Compendio
geographico y estadistico de la Republica de Costa Rica_ (San Jose,
1894); H. Pittier, _Apuntaciones sobre el clima y geographia de la
Republica de Costa Rica_ (San Jose, 1890); P. Biolley, _Costa Rica and
her Future_ (Washington, 1889); M. M. de Peralta, _Costa Rica_
(London, 1873). For an account of immigration, commerce and other
mainly statistical matters, see J. Schroeder, _Costa Rica State
Immigration_ (San Jose, 1894); _Bulletins_ of the Bureau of American
Republics (Washington); British _Diplomatic and Consular Reports_
(London); U.S.A. _Consular Reports_ (Washington); _Reports of the
Ministries_ (San Jose). For the history of Costa Rica, see L. Z.
Baron, _Compendio de la historia de Costa Rica_ (San Jose, 1894); F.
M. Barrantes, _Elementos de historia de Costa Rica_ (San Jose, 1892);
J. B. Calvo, _The Republic of Costa Rica_ (Chicago, 1890), gives a
partisan account of local politics, trade and finance, authorized by
the government. Frontier questions are discussed fully in Col. G. E.
Church's "Costa Rica," a very valuable paper in vol. x. of the
_Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_ (London, 1897); and, by Dr
E. Seler, in "Der Grenzstreit zwischen den Republiken Costa Rica und
Colombia," in _Petermann's Mittheilungen_, vol. xlvi. (1900). For a
detailed bibliography see D. J. Maluquer, _Republica de Costa Rica_
(Madrid, 1890). The best maps are that of the Bureau of American
Republics (1903), and, for physical features, that of Col. Church,
published by the R.G.S. (London, 1897).
COSTELLO, DUDLEY (1803-1865), English journalist and novelist, son of
Colonel J. F. Costello, was born in Ireland in 1803. He was educated for
the army at Sandhurst, and served for a short time in India, Canada and
the West Indies. His literary and artistic tastes led him to quit the
army in 1828, and he then passed some years in Paris. He was introduced
to Baron Cuvier, who employed him as draughtsman in the preparation of
his _Regne animal_. He next occupied himself in copying illuminated
manuscripts in the Bibliotheque Royale; and to him and his sister
belongs the merit of being the first to draw general attention to this
beautiful forgotten art, and of thus leading to its revival. About 1838
Costello became foreign correspondent to the _Morning Herald_; in 1846
he became foreign correspondent of the _Daily News_; and during the last
twenty years of his life he held the post of sub-editor of the
_Examiner_. He wrote _A Tour through the Valley of the Meuse_ (1845) and
_Piedmont and Italy, from the Alps to the Tiber_ (1859-1861). Among his
novels are _Stories from a Screen_ (1855), _The Millionaire_ (1858),
_Faint Heart never won Fair Lady_ (1859) and _Holidays with Hobgoblins_
(1860). He died on the 30th of September 1865.
His elder sister, LOUISA STUART COSTELLO (1799-1870), author and
miniature painter, was born in Ireland in 1799. Her father died while
she was young, and Louisa, who removed to Paris with her mother in 1814,
helped to support her mother and brother by her skill as an artist. At
the age of sixteen she published a volume of verse entitled _The Maid of
the Cyprus Isle, and other poems_. This was followed in 1825 by _Songs
of a Stranger_, dedicated to W. L. Bowles. Ten years later appeared her
_Specimens of the Early Poetry of France_, illustrated by beautifully
executed illuminations, the work of her brother and herself. It was
dedicated to Moore, and procured her his friendship as well as that of
Sir Walter Scott. Her principal works are--_A Summer among the Bocages
and Vines_ (1840); _The Queen's Poisoner_ (or _The Queen-Mother_), a
historical romance (1841); _Bearn and the Pyrenees_ (1844); _Memoirs of
Eminent Englishwomen_ (1844); _The Rose Garden of Persia_ (1845), a
series of translations from Persian poets, with illuminations by herself
and her brother; _The Falls, Lakes and Mountains of North Wales_ (1845);
_Clara Fane_ (1848), a novel; _Memoirs of Mary of Burgundy_ (1853); and
_Memoirs of Anne of Brittany_ (1855). She died at Boulogne on the 24th
of April 1870.
COSTER-MONGER (originally COSTARD-MONGER, a seller of costards, a
species of large ribbed apple). The word "monger" is common, in various
forms, in Teutonic languages in the sense of trader or dealer, and
appears in "iron-monger" and "fish-monger," and with a derogatory
significance of petty or under-hand dealing in such words as
"scandal-monger." A "coster-monger," or "coster," originally, therefore,
one who sold apples and fruit in the street, is now an itinerant dealer
in fruit, vegetables or fish, but more particularly, as distinguished
from a "hawker" on the one hand, and "general dealer" on the other, is a
street trader in the above commodities who uses a barrow. The
coster-monger's trade in London, so far as it falls under clause 6 of
the Metropolitan Streets Act 1867, which deals with obstruction by goods
to footways and streets is subject to regulations of the commissioner of
police. So long as these are carried out, coster-mongers, street hawkers
and itinerant traders are exempted, by an amending act, from the
liabilities imposed by clause 6 of the above act.
COSTS, a term used in English law to denote the expenses incurred (1) in
employing a lawyer in his professional capacity for purposes other than
litigation; (2) in instituting and carrying on litigation whether with
or without the aid of a lawyer.
_Solicitor and Client._--The retainer of a solicitor implies a contract
to pay to him his proper charges and disbursements with respect to the
work done by him as a solicitor. In cases of conveyancing his
remuneration is now for the most part regulated by scales _ad valorem_
on the value of the property dealt with (Solicitors' Remuneration Order
1882), and clients are free to make written agreements for the conduct
of any class of non-litigious business, fixing the costs by a percentage
on the value of the amount involved. So far as litigious business is
concerned, the arrangement known as "no cure no pay" is objected to by
the courts and the profession as leading to speculative actions, and
stipulations as to a share of the proceeds of a successful action are
champertous and illegal. An English solicitor's bill drawn in the old
form is a voluminous itemized narrative of every act done by him in the
cause or matter with a charge set against each entry and often against
each letter written. Before the solicitor can recover from his client
the amount of his charges, he must deliver a signed bill of costs and
wait a month before suing.
The High Court has a threefold jurisdiction to deal with solicitors'
costs:--(1) by virtue of its jurisdiction over them as its officers;
(2) statutory, under the Solicitors Act 1843 and other legislation; (3)
ordinary, to ascertain the reasonableness of charges made the subject of
a claim.
The client can, as a matter of course, get an order for taxation within
a month of the delivery of the solicitor's bill, and either client or
solicitor can get such an order as of course within twelve months of
delivery. After expiry of that time the court may order taxation if the
special circumstances call for it, and even so late as twelve months
after actual payment.
Costs as between solicitor and client are taxed in the same office as
litigious costs, and objections to the decisions of the taxing officer,
if properly made, can be taken for review to a judge of the High Court
and to the Court of Appeal.
_Litigious Costs._--The expenses of litigation fall in the first
instance on the person who undertakes the proceedings or retains and
employs the lawyer. It is in accordance with the ordinary ideas of
justice that the expenses of the successful party to litigation should
be defrayed by the unsuccessful party, a notion expressed in the phrase
that "costs follow the event." But there are many special circumstances
which interfere to modify the application of this rule. The action,
though successful, may be in its nature frivolous or vexatious, or it
may have been brought in a higher court where a lower court would have
been competent to deal with it. On the other hand the defendant,
although he has escaped a judgment against him, may by his conduct have
rendered the action necessary or otherwise justifiable. In such cases
the rule that costs should follow the event would be felt to work an
injustice, and exceptions to its operation have therefore been devised.
In the law of England the provisions as to litigious costs, though now
simpler than of old, are still elaborate and complicated, and the costs
themselves are on a higher scale than is known in most other countries.
Except as regards appeals to the House of Lords and suits in equity, the
right to recover costs from the opposite party in litigation has always
depended on statute law or on rules made under statutory authority,
"Costs are the creature of statute." The House of Lords has declared its
competence to grant costs on appeals independently of statute.
In the judicial committee of the privy council the power to award, in
its discretion, costs on appeals from the colonies or other matters
referred to it, is given by S 15 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833; and
the costs are taxed by the registrar of the council.
Courts of equity have always claimed a discretion independently of
statute to give or refuse costs, but as a general rule the maxim of the
civil law, _victus victori in expensis condemnatus est_, was followed.
The successful party was recognized to have a prima facie claim to
costs, but the court might, on sufficient cause shown, not only deprive
him of his costs, but even in some rare cases order him to pay the costs
of his unsuccessful opponent. There was a class of cases in which the
court generally gave costs to parties sustaining a certain character,
whatever might be the result of the suit (e.g. trustees, executors and
mortgagees).
In the courts of common law, costs were not given either to plaintiff or
defendant, although the damages given to a successful plaintiff might
suffice to cover not only the loss sustained by the wrong done, but also
the expense he had been put to in taking proceedings. The defendant in a
baseless or vexatious action could not even recover his costs thus
indirectly, and the indirect costs given to a plaintiff under the name
of damages were often inadequate and uncertain. Costs were first given
under the Statute of Gloucester (1277, 6 Edward I. c. 1), which enacted
that "the demandant shall recover damages in an assize of novel
disseisin and in writs of mort d'ancestor, cosinage, aiel and beziel,
and further that the demandant may recover against the tenant the costs
of his writ purchased together with the damages above said. And this act
shall hold in all cases when the party is to recover damages." The words
"costs of his writ" were extended to mean all the legal costs in the
suit. The statute gave costs, wherever damages were recovered, and no
matter what the amount of the damages may be. Costs were first given to
a defendant by the Statute of Marlbridge (1267) in a case relating to
wardship in chivalry (52 Henry III. C. 6); but costs were not given
generally to successful defendants until 1531 (23 Henry VIII. c. 15),
when it was enacted that "if in the actions therein mentioned the
plaintiff after appearance of the defendant be non-suited, or any
verdict happen to pass by lawful trial against the plaintiff, the
defendant shall have judgment to recover his costs against the
plaintiff, to be assessed and taxed at the discretion of the court, and
shall have such process and execution for the recovery and paying his
costs against the plaintiff, as the plaintiff should or might have had
against the defendant, in case the judgment had been given for the
plaintiff." In 1606 by 4 James I. c. 3, this "good and profitable law"
was extended to other actions not originally specified, although within
the mischief of the act, so that in any action wherein the plaintiff
might have costs if judgment were given for him, the defendant if
successful should have costs against the plaintiff. The policy of these
enactments is expressed to be the discouragement of frivolous and unjust
suits. This policy was carried out by other and later acts. The
Limitations Act 1623, S 6, ordered that if the plaintiff in an action of
slander recovered less than 40s. damages, the plaintiff should be
allowed no more as costs than he got as damages. By 43 Elizabeth c. 6 it
was enacted that in any personal action not being for any title or
interest in land, nor concerning the freehold or inheritance of lands
nor for battery, where the damages did not amount to 40s. no more costs
than damages could be allowed. By 3 & 4 Vict. c. 24 (Lord Denman's Act
1840), where the plaintiff in an action of tort recovered less than
40s., he was not allowed costs unless the judge certified that the
action was really brought to try a right besides the right to recover
damages, or that the injury was wilful or malicious.
All these enactments have been superseded by the Judicature Acts, but in
the case of slander on women the provisions of the act of 1623 were
re-enacted in the Slander of Women Act 1891.
_Supreme Court._--The general rule now in force in the Supreme Court of
Judicature is as follows:--"Subject to the provisions of the Judicature
Acts and the rules of the court made thereunder, and to the express
provision of any statute whether passed before or after the 14th of
August 1890, the costs of and incident to all proceedings in the Supreme
Court, including the administration of estates and trusts, shall be in
the discretion of the court or judge, and the court or judge shall have
full power to determine by whom and to what extent such costs are to be
paid. Provided (1) that nothing herein contained shall deprive an
executor, administrator, trustee or mortgagee who has not unreasonably
carried on or resisted any proceedings of any right to costs out of a
particular estate or fund to which he would be entitled under the rules
hitherto (i.e. before 1883) acted upon in the chancery division as
successor of the court of chancery; (2) that where an action, cause,
matter or issue is tried with a jury, the costs shall follow the event
unless the judge who tried the case or the court shall for good cause
otherwise order." (R.S.C., O. 65, r. 1.)
The rule above stated applies to civil proceedings on the crown side of
the king's bench division, including mandamus, prohibition _quo
warranto_, and certiorari (_R._ v. _Woodhouse_, 1906, 2 K.B. 502, 540);
and to proceedings on the revenue side of that division (O. 68, r. 1);
but it does not apply to criminal proceedings in the High Court, which
are regulated by the crown office rules of 1906, or by statutes dealing
with particular breaches of the law, and as to procedure in taxing costs
by O. 65, r. 27, of the Rules of the Supreme Court.
The rule is also subject to specific provision empowering the courts to
limit the costs to be adjudged against the unsuccessful party in
proceedings in the High Court, which could and should have been
instituted in a county court, e.g. actions of contract under L100, or
actions of tort in which less than L10 is recovered (County Courts Act
1888, SS 65, 66, 116; County Courts Act 1903, S 3).
For instance, in actions falling within the Public Authorities
Protection Act 1893 against public bodies or officials, the defendant,
if successful, is entitled to recover costs as between solicitor and
client unless a special order to the contrary is made by the court; and
under some statutes still unrepealed, double or treble costs are to be
allowed. Besides the rules above stated, there is also a provision,
adopted from the practice of courts of equity, that if tender was made
before action of a sum sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff's just demand
and is followed by payment into court in the action of the sum tendered,
the court will make the plaintiff pay the costs of action as having been
unnecessarily brought.
Costs of interlocutory proceedings in the course of a litigation are
sometimes said to be "costs in the cause," that is, they abide the
result of the principal issue. A party succeeding in interlocutory
proceedings, and paying the costs therein made "costs in the cause,"
would recover the amount of such costs if he had a judgment for costs on
the result of the whole trial, but not otherwise. But it is usual now
not to tax the costs of interlocutory proceedings till after final
judgment.
_Taxation._--When an order to pay the costs of litigation is made the
costs are taxed in the central office of the High Court, unless the
court when making the order fixes the amount to be paid (R.S.C., O. 65,
r. 23). Recent changes in the organization for taxing have tended to
create a uniformity of system and method which had long been needed.
The taxation is effected, under an elaborate set of regulations, by
reference to the prescribed scales, and on what is known as the lower
scale, unless the court has specially ordered taxation on the higher
scale (R.S.C., O. 65, rr. 8, 9, appendix N).
In the taxation of litigious costs two methods are still adopted, known
as "between party and party" and "between solicitor and client." Unless
a special order is made the first of the two methods is adopted. Until
very recently "party and party" costs were found to be a very imperfect
indemnity to the successful litigant; because many items which his
solicitor would be entitled to charge against him for the purposes of
the litigation were not recoverable from his unsuccessful opponent. The
High Court can now, in exercise of the equitable jurisdiction derived
from the court of chancery, make orders on the losing party to pay the
costs of the winner as between solicitor and client. These orders are
not often made except in the chancery division. But even where party and
party costs only are ordered to be paid under the present practice
(dating from 1902), the taxing office allows against the unsuccessful
party all costs, charges and expenses necessary or proper for the
attainment of justice or defending the rights of the successful party,
but not costs incurred through over-caution, negligence, or by paying
special fees to counsel or special fees to witnesses or other persons,
or by any other unusual expenses (R.S.C., O. 65, rr. 27, 29). This
practice tends to give an approximate indemnity, while preventing
oppression of the losing party by making him pay for lavish expenditure
by his opponent. The taxation is subject to review by a judge on formal
objections carried on, and an appeal lies to the Court of Appeal.
_County Courts._--The costs of all proceedings in county courts follow
the event, unless the judge in his discretion otherwise orders. The
amount allowed is regulated by scales included in the county court
rules, and is ascertained by the registrar of the court subject to any
special direction by the judge, and to review by him. The costs are
allowed as between party and party, but the registrar on the application
of solicitor or party, and subject to the like review, taxes costs as
between solicitor and client. Nothing is allowed which is not sanctioned
by the scales, unless it is proved that the client has agreed in writing
to pay (County Courts Act 1888, S 118).
_Costs in Criminal Cases._--In criminal cases the right to recover the
expenses of prosecution or defence from public funds or the opposite
party depends wholly on statute. According to the common law rule the
crown neither pays nor receives costs, but the rule is in some cases
altered by statute (_Thomas_ v. _Pritchard_, 1903, 1 K.B. 209).
Courts of summary jurisdiction may order costs to be paid by the
unsuccessful to the successful party (Summary Jurisdiction Act 1848, S
18).
On prosecutions for treason or felony the court may order the accused
person, if convicted, to pay the costs of his prosecution (Forfeiture
Act 1870); and the like power exists as to persons convicted of offences
indictable under the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 (see S 18), and as
to persons convicted on indictment of assault, corrupt practices at
elections, offences against the Merchandise Marks Acts, or of defamatory
libel, if they have unsuccessfully pleaded jurisdiction.
Provision is also made for the payment out of the local rate of the
district of the costs of prosecuting all felonies (except treason
felony) and a number of misdemeanours. A list of these offences will be
found in Archbold, _Criminal Pleading_, 23rd ed., 246. The legislation
on this subject authorizes the payment of the expenses of witnesses and
of the prosecutor, both at a preliminary inquiry before justices and at
the trial, and in the case of summary conviction for any of the
indictable offences in question. It has been extended so as to include
the expenses of witnesses for the defence in any indictable case if they
have given evidence at the preliminary inquiry, and the costs of the
defence of poor prisoners in every indictable case in which the
committing justices or the court of trial certify for legal aid (Poor
Prisoners' Defence Act 1903). The costs are taxed by the proper officer
of the court of assize or the clerk of the peace in accordance with
scales issued by the Home Office in 1903 and 1904. These scales do not
fix the fees to be allowed to counsel or solicitor for the prosecution.
The costs, when taxed, are paid by the treasurer of the county or
borough on whom the order for payment is made.
Where a prosecution or indictment fails, the prosecutor cannot as a rule
be made to pay the costs of the defence: except in cases within the
Vexatious Indictments Act 1859 and its amendments (i.e. where he has,
after a refusal by justices to commit for trial, insisted on continuing
the prosecution); or where a defamatory libel is successfully justified,
or where prosecutions in respect of merchandise marks or corrupt
practices at elections have failed. (W. F. C.)
COSTUME (through the Fr. _costume_, from Ital. _costume_, Late Lat.
_costuma_, a contracted form of Lat. _consuetudinem_, acc. of
_consuetudo_, custom, habit, manner, &c.), dress or clothing, especially
the distinctive clothing worn at different periods by different peoples
or different classes of people. The word appears in English in the 18th
century, and was first applied to the correct representation, in
literature and art, of the manners, dress, furniture and general
surroundings of the scene represented. By the early part of the 19th
century it became restricted to the fashion or style of personal
apparel, including the head-dresses, jewelry and the like.
The subject of clothing is far wider than appears at first sight. To the
average man there is a distinction between clothing and ornament, the
first being regarded as that covering which satisfies the claims of
modesty, the second as those appendages which satisfy the aesthetic
sense. This distinction, however, does not exist for science, and indeed
the first definition involves a fallacy of which it will be as well to
dispose forthwith.
Modesty is not innate in man, and its conventional nature is easily seen
from a consideration of the different ideas held by different races on
this subject. With Mahommedan peoples it is sufficient for a woman to
cover her face; the Chinese women would think it extremely indecent to
show their artificially compressed feet, and it is even improper to
mention them to a woman; in Sumatra and Celebes the wild tribes consider
the exposure of the knee immodest; in central Asia the finger-tips, and
in Samoa the navel are similarly regarded. In Tahiti and Tonga clothing
might be discarded without offence, provided the individual were
tattooed; and among the Caribs a woman might leave the hut without her
girdle but not unpainted. Similarly, in Alaska, women felt great shame
when seen without the plugs they carried in their lips. Europeans are
considered indelicate in many ways by other races, and a remark of
Peschel[1] is to the point: "Were a pious Mussulman of Ferghana to be
present at our balls and see the bare shoulders of our wives and
daughters, and the semi-embraces of our round dances, he would silently
wonder at the long-suffering of Allah who had not long ago poured fire
and brimstone on this sinful and shameless generation." Another point of
interest lies in the difference of outlook with which nudity is regarded
by the English and Japanese. Among the latter it has been common for the
sexes to take baths together without clothing, while in England mixed
bathing, even in full costume, is even now by no means universal. Yet in
England the representation of the nude in art meets with no reproach,
though considered improper by the Japanese. Even more striking is the
fact that in civilized countries what is permitted at certain times is
forbidden at others; a woman will expose far more of her person at
night, in the ballroom or theatre, than would be considered seemly by
day in the street; and a bathing costume which would be thought modest
on the beach would meet with reprobation in a town.
Modesty therefore is highly conventional, and to discover its origin the
most primitive tribes must be observed. Among these, in Africa, South
America, Australia and so forth, where clothing is at a minimum, the men
are always more elaborately ornamented than the women. At the same time
it is noticeable that no cases of spinsterhood are found; celibacy, rare
as it is, is confined to the male sex. It is reasonable, therefore, to
conclude that ornament is a stimulus to sexual selection, and this
conclusion is enforced by the fact that among many comparatively nude
peoples clothing is assumed at certain dances which have as their
confessed object the excitation of the passions of the opposite sex.
Many forms of clothing, moreover, seem to call attention to those parts
of the body of which, under the conditions of Western civilization at
the present day, it aims at the concealment; certain articles of dress
worn by the New Hebrideans, the Zulu-Xosa tribes, certain tribes of
Brazil and others, are cases in point. Clothing, moreover--and this is
true also of the present day--almost always tends to accentuate rather
than to conceal the difference between the sexes. Looking at the
question then from the point of view of sexual selection it would seem
that a stage in the progress of human society is marked by the discovery
that concealment affords a greater stimulus than revelation; that the
fact is true is obvious,--even to modern eyes a figure partially clad
appears far more indecent than a nude. That the stimulus is real is seen
in the fact that among nude races flagrant immorality is far less common
than among the more clothed; the contrast between the Polynesians and
Melanesians, living as neighbours under similar conditions, is striking
evidence on this point. Later, when the novelty of clothing has spent
its force, the stimulus is supplied by nudity complete or partial.
One more point must be considered: there is the evidence of competent
observers to show that members of a tribe accustomed to nudity, when
made to assume clothing for the first time, exhibit as much confusion as
would a European compelled to strip in public. This fact, considered
together with what has been said above, compels the conclusion that
modesty is a feeling merely of acute self-consciousness due to appearing
unusual, and is the result of clothing rather than the cause. In the
words of Westermarck: "The facts appear to prove that the feeling of
shame, far from being the cause of man's covering his body, is, on the
contrary, a result of this custom; and that the covering, if not used as
a protection from the climate, owes its origin, at least in a great many
cases, to the desire of men and women to make themselves mutually
attractive."
Primitive adornment in its earliest stages may be divided into three
classes; first the moulding of the body itself to certain local
standards of beauty. In this category may be placed head-deformation,
which reached its extreme development among the Indians of North-West
America and the ancient Peruvians; foot-constriction as practised by the
Chinese; tooth-chipping among many African tribes; and waist-compression
common in Europe at the present day. Many forms of deformation, it may
be remarked in passing, emphasize some natural physical characteristic
of the people who practise them. Secondly, the application of extraneous
matter to the body, as painting and tattooing, and the raising of
ornamental scars often by the introduction of foreign matter into
flesh-wounds (this practice belongs partly to the first category also).
Thirdly, the suspension of foreign bodies from, or their attachment to,
convenient portions of the body. This category, by far the largest,
includes ear-, nose- and lip-ornaments, head-dresses, necklets, armlets,
wristlets, leglets, anklets, finger-and toe-rings and girdles. The last
are important, as it is from the waist-ornaments chiefly that what is
commonly considered clothing at the present day has been developed.
Setting aside for the moment the less important, historically, of these,
nearly all of which exist in Western civilization of the present day, it
will be as well to consider that form of dress which is marked by the
greatest evolution. It is generally supposed that man originated in
tropical or subtropical latitudes, and spread gradually towards the
poles. Naturally, as the temperature became lower, a new function was
gradually acquired by his clothing, that of protecting the body of the
wearer. Climate then is one of the forces which play an important part
in the evolution of dress; at the same time care must be taken not to
attribute too much influence to it. It must be remembered that the
Arabs, who inhabit an extremely hot country, are very fully clothed,
while the Fuegians at the extremity of Cape Horn, exposed to all the
rigours of an antarctic climate, have, as sole protection, a skin
attached to the body by cords, so that it can be shifted to either side
according to the direction of the wind.
Dr. C. H. Stratz divides clothing climatically into two classes:
tropical, which is based on the girdle (or, when the attachment is
fastened round the neck, the cloak), and the arctic, based on the
trouser. This classification is ingenious and convenient as far as it
goes, but it seems probable that the trouser, which also has the waist
as its point of attachment, may itself be a further development of the
girdle. Certainly, however, in historical times the division holds good,
and it is worthy of remark that one of the points about the northern
barbarians which struck the ancient Greeks and Romans most forcibly was
the fact that they wore trousers. Amongst the most northerly races the
latter garb is worn by both sexes alike; farther south by the men, the
women retaining the tropical form; farther south still the latter reigns
supreme. No distinct latitude can be assigned as a boundary between the
two forms, from the simple fact that where migration in comparatively
recent times has taken place a natural conservatism has prevented the
more familiar garb from being discarded; at the same time the two forms
can often be seen within the limits of the same country; as, for
instance, in China, where the women of Shanghai commonly wear trousers,
those of Hong-Kong skirts. The retention by women in Europe of the
tropical garb can be explained by the fact that her sphere has been
mainly confined to the house, and her life has been less active than
that of man; consequently the adoption of the arctic dress has been in
her case less necessary. But it is noticeable that where women engage in
occupations of a more than usually strenuous nature, they frequently don
male costume while at their work; as, for instance, women who work in
mines (Belgium) and who tend cattle (Switzerland, Tirol). The retention
of the tropical pattern by the Highlanders is due directly to
environment, since the kilt is better suited than trousers for walking
over wet heather.
Another factor besides climate which has exerted a powerful influence on
dress--more perhaps on what is commonly regarded as "jewelry" as
distinct from "clothing"--is superstition. Doubtless many of the smaller
objects with which primitive man adorned himself, especially trophies
from the animal world, were supposed to exert some beneficial or
protective influence on the wearer, or to produce in him the
distinguishing characteristics attributed to the object, or to the whole
of which the object was a part. Such objects might be imitated in other
materials and by successive copying lose their identity, or their first
meaning might be otherwise forgotten, and they would ultimately exercise
a purely decorative function. Though this factor may be responsible for
much, or even the greater part, of primitive "jewelry," yet it does not
seem likely that it is the cause of all forms of ornament; much must be
attributed to the desire to satisfy an innate aesthetic sense, which is
seen in children and of which some glimmerings appear among the lower
animals also.
See Ed. Westermarck, _The History of Human Marriage_ (London, 1901);
Racinet, _Le Costume historique_ (Paris, 1888); C. H. Stratz,
_Frauenkleidung_ (Stuttgart). (T. A. J.)