Part 123 (1/2)
CHIe'TI (22), a city in Central Italy, 78 m. NE. of Rome, with a fine Gothic cathedral.
CHIGI, a distinguished Italian family, eminent in the Church.
CHIGOE, an insect which infests the skin of the feet, multiplies incredibly, and is a great annoyance to the negro, who, however, is pretty expert in getting rid of it.
CHIHUA'HUA (25), a town in Mexico; capital of a State (298), the largest in Mexico, of the same name, with famous silver and also copper mines.
CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES, an American scholar, born in Boston; professor of Anglo-Saxon and Early English Literature at Harvard; distinguished as the editor of Spenser and of ”English and Scottish Ballads,” ”a monumental collection”; _b_. 1825.
CHILD, LYDIA MARIA, an American novelist and anti-slavery advocate (1802-1880).
CHILD, SIR JOSHUA, a wealthy London merchant, author of ”Discourse on Trade,” with an appendix against usury; advocated the compulsory transportation of paupers to the Colonies (1630-1699).
CHILDE, the eldest son of a n.o.bleman who has not yet attained to knighthood, or has not yet won his spurs.
CHILDE HAROLD, a poem of Byron's, written between 1812 and 1819, representing the author himself as wandering over the world in quest of satisfaction and returning sated to disgust; it abounds in striking thoughts and vivid descriptions; in his ”Dernier Chant of C. H.”
Lamartine takes up the hero where Byron leaves him.
CHILDERBERT I., son of Clovis, king of Paris, reigned from 511 to 558. C. II., son of Siegbert and Brunhilda, king of Austrasia, reigned from 575 to 596. C. III., son of Thierri III., reigned over all France from 695 to 711, under the mayor of the palace, Pepin d'Heristal.
CHILDERBRAND, a Frank warrior, who figures in old chronicles as the brother of Charles Martel, signalised himself in the expulsion of the Saracens from France.
CHILDeRIC I., the son of Merovig and father of Clovis, king of the Franks; _d_. 481. C. II., son of Clovis II., king of Austrasia in 660, and of all France in 670; a.s.sa.s.sinated 673. C. III., son of the preceding, last of the Merovingian kings, from 743 to 752; was deposed by Pepin le Bref; died in the monastery of St. Omer in 755.
CHILDERMAS, a festival to commemorate the ma.s.sacre of the children by Herod.
CHILDERS, ROBERT C., professor of Pali and Buddhistic Literature in University College, and author of Pali Dictionary (1809-1876).
CHILDREN OF THE WOOD, two children, a boy and girl, left to the care of an uncle, who hired two ruffians to murder them, that he might inherit their wealth; one of the ruffians relented, killed his companion, and left the children in a wood, who were found dead in the morning, a redbreast having covered their bodies with strawberry leaves; the uncle was thereafter goaded to death by the furies.
CHILE (2,867), the most advanced and stable of the S. American States, occupies a strip of country, 100 m. broad, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, and stretching from Cape Horn northward 2200 m. to Peru, with Argentine and Bolivia on its eastern borders. The climate is naturally various. In the N. are rainless tracts of mountains rich in copper, manganese, silver, and other metals, and deserts with wonderful deposits of nitrate. In the S. are stretches of pastoral land and virgin forest, with excessive rains, and cold, raw climate. The central portion enjoys a temperate climate with moderate rainfall, and produces excellent wheat, grapes, and fruits of all kinds. The Andes tower above the snow-line, Aconcagua reaching 23,500 ft. The rivers are short and rapid, of little use for navigation. The coast-line is even in the N., but excessively rugged and broken in the S., the most southerly regions being weird and desolate. The people are descendants of Spaniards, mingled with Araucanian Indians; but there is a large European element in all the coast towns. Mining and agriculture are the chief industries; manufactures of various kinds are fostered with foreign capital. The chief trade is with Britain: exports nitre, wheat, copper, and iodine; imports, textiles, machinery, sugar, and cattle. Santiago (250) is the capital; Valparaiso (150) and Iquique the princ.i.p.al ports. The government is republican; Roman Catholicism the State religion; education is fairly well fostered; there is a university at Santiago. The country was first visited by Magellan in 1520. In 1540 Pedro Valdivia entered it from Peru and founded Santiago. During colonial days it was an annex of Peru. In 1810 the revolt against Spain broke out. Independence was gained in 1826.
Settled government was established in 1847. Since then a revolution in 1851, successful wars with Spain 1864-66, with Bolivia and Peru 1879-81, and a revolution in 1891, have been the most stirring events in its history.
CHILLIANWALLA, a village in the Punjab, 80 m. NW. of Lah.o.r.e, the scene in 1849 of a b.l.o.o.d.y battle in the second Sikh War, in which the Sikhs were defeated by Gen. Gough; it was also the scene of a battle between Alexander the Great and Porus.