The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 122

CHESTERFIELD, PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF, statesman, orator, and man of letters, eldest son of the third earl, born in London; sat in the House of Commons from 1716 to 1726; was an opponent of Walpole; held office under the Pelhams; in 1748 retired from deafness, or perhaps disgust, into private life; celebrated for his "Letters to his Son,"

models of elegance, though of questionable morality, which it appears he never intended to publish, and for the scorn with which Dr. Johnson treated him when he offered to help him, after he no longer needed any, in a letter which gave the death-blow to the patronage of literature; is credited by Carlyle with having predicted the French Revolution; it should be added, the "Letters" were printed by his son's widow (1694-1773).

CHEVALIER, MICHEL, a celebrated French economist, born at Limoges; originally a Socialist of the St. Simonian school; for defending Socialism was imprisoned, but recanted, and wrote ably against Socialism; was a free-trader and coadjutor of Cobden (1806-1879).

CHEVALIER, SULPICE. See GAVARNI.

CHEVALIER D'INDUSTRIE, one who lives by his wits, specially by swindling.

CHEVALIER ST. GEORGE, the Pretender.

CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE, a military fence composed of a beam or a bar armed with long spikes, literally Friesland horses, having been first used in Friesland.

CHEVERT, a French general, born at Verdun; "a bit of right soldier stuff"; distinguished himself in many engagements, and especially at the siege of Prague in 1757 (1696-1773).

CHEVIOT HILLS, a range on the borders of England and Scotland, extending 35 m. south-westwards, the highest in Northumberland 2676 ft., the Carter Fell being 2020 ft.; famous for its breed of sheep.

CHEVREUL, MICHEL EUGeNE, a French chemist, born at Angers; an expert in the department of dyeing, and an authority on colours, as well as the chemistry of fats; was director in the dyeing department in the Gobelins manufactory; he lived to witness the centenary of his birth (1786-1889).

CHEVREUSE, d.u.c.h.eSSE DE, played an important part in the Fronde and in the plots against Richelieu and Mazarin; her Life has been written by Victor Cousin (1600-1679).

CHEVRON, in heraldry an ordinary of two bands forming an angle descending to the extremities of the s.h.i.+eld; representing the two rafters of a house, meeting at the top.

CHEVY CHASE, the subject and t.i.tle of a highly popular old English ballad, presumed to refer to an event in connection with the battle of Otterburn; there were strains in it which Sir Philip Sidney said moved his heart more than with a trumpet.

CHEYENNE INDIANS, a warlike tribe of Red Indians, now much reduced, and partially settled in the Indian Territory, U.S.; noted for their horsemans.h.i.+p.

CHEYNE, GEORGE, a physician and medical writer, born in Aberdeens.h.i.+re, in practice in London; suffered from corpulency, being 32 stone in weight, but kept it down by vegetable and milk diet, which he recommended to others in the like case; wrote on fevers, nervous disorders, and hygiene; wrote also on fluxions (1671-1743).

CHEYNE, THOMAS KELLY, an eminent Biblical scholar, born in London; Oriel Professor of Scripture Exegesis, Oxford, and canon of Rochester; author of numerous works on the Old Testament, particularly on "Isaiah"

and the "Psalms," in which he advocates conclusions in accord with modern critical results; _b_. 1841.

CHeZY, DE, a French Orientalist, born at Neuilly; the first to create in France an interest in the study of Sanskrit (1773-1832).

CHIABRERA, GABRIELLO, an Italian lyric poet, born at Savona; distinguished, especially for his lyrics; surnamed the "Pindar of Italy,"

Pindar being a Greek poet whom it was his ambition to imitate (1552-1637).

CHIA'NA, a small, stagnant, pestilential affluent of the Tiber, now deepened into a healthful and serviceable stream, connecting the Tiber with the Arno.

CHIAPAS, LAS (270), a Pacific State of Mexico, covered with forests; yields maize, sugar, cacao, and cotton.

CHIAROSCURO, the reproduction in art of the effects of light and shade on nature as they mutually affect each other.

CHIBCHAS or MUYSCAS, a civilised people, though on a lower stage than the Peruvians, whom the Spaniards found established in New Granada in the 16th century, now merged in the Spanish population; they wors.h.i.+p the sun.

CHICA, an orange-red colouring matter obtained from boiling the leaves of the _Bignonia chica_, and used as a dye.

CHICAGO (1,700), the metropolis of Illinois, in the NE. of the State, on the SW. sh.o.r.e of Lake Michigan, is the second city in the Union; its unparalleled growth, dating only from 1837--in 1832 a mere log-fort, and now covering an area of 180 sq. m., being 21 m. in length and 10 m. in breadth--is due to its matchless facilities for communication. Situated in the heart of the continent, a third of the United States railway system centres in it, and it communicates with all Canada, and with the ocean by the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River; laid out with absolute regularity, it has many magnificent buildings, enormously tall office "sky-sc.r.a.pers," and an unrivalled system of parks and avenues; there are a university, medical, commercial, and theological colleges, an art inst.i.tute, libraries, and observatory; it suffered severely from fire in 1871 and 1874; it is the greatest grain and pork market in the world, and its manufactures include almost every variety of production; the population is a mixture of all European peoples; native-born Americans are a small minority, outnumbered by the Germans and almost equalled by the Irish.

CHICARD, the harlequin of the modern French carnival, grotesquely dressed up.

CHICHELEY, HENRY, archbishop of Canterbury, a scholar and statesman, often employed on emba.s.sies, a moderate churchman; accompanied Henry V.

to Agincourt (1362-1442).

CHICHESTER (9), a cathedral city in the W. of Suss.e.x, 17 m. NE. of Portsmouth, with a port on the Channel 2 m. SW. of it; chief trade in agricultural produce.

CHICHEVACHE, a monster fabled to feed on good women, and starved, from the scarcity of them, to skin and bone, in contrast with another called Bicorn, that fed on good men, who are more plentiful, and was fat and plump.

CHICKASAWS, N. American Indians, allied to the Chocktaws, settled in a civilised state in the Indian Territory like the Cherokees.

CHICLANA (12), a watering-place 12 m. SB. of Cadiz, with mineral baths.

CHIEF, the upper part of an escutcheon cut off by a horizontal line.

CHIEM-SEE, a high-lying lake in Upper Bavaria, 48 m. from Munich, adorned with three islands; famous for its fish.

CHIEN DE JEAN DE NIVELLE, the dog that never came when it was called. See NIVELLE.