CHARACINIDE-CHARADE.

all consideration of their reproductive organs, asso-action of damages, either by the servant whom he ciates them with the lower Algæ, rather than with has calumniated, or by a subsequent employer, whom

he has deceived. If true, however, the fact of its being prejudicial will expose the master to no risk. In order to justify the giving of a bad character, however, it must, in general, be asked for by the servant, as the master is not entitled needlessly to publish the servant's defects. In that case, it will lie with the servant to prove its falsehood, not with the master to prove its truth. The case of the servant being known by the master to have committed a felony while in his service, is, however, an exception to this rule, as, in a case so extreme, the master is at liberty to warn others against taking him into their employment. Even, though strictly true, the character, if prejudicial, must not be more so than the circumstances render necessary. Acts of petty dishonesty, such as are too common amongst servants, will not warrant the master in branding him. as a thief. The safe course, in such a case, is to state the offence, and not to describe it by a general epithet, which may convey an erroneous impression of its magnitude.

Chara Vulgaris.

phanerogamous plants. None of them is of any known use. It was in the C. that the beautiful phenomena of Cyclosis (q. v.) were first observed. Sir David Brewster discovered that each of the minute calcarerous particles incrusting the C. possesses double refraction, and has regular neutral and depolarising axes.

Fossil Characea. The calcareous incrustation which covers the organs of reproduction, as well as the stems of some C., has, from its power of resisting decomposition, caused the abundant preservation of this order in the Tertiary fresh-water strata. The nucules originally described under the name of gyrogonites, and supposed to be foraminiferous shells, have been noticed by E. Forbes in strata as old as the Middle Purbeck beds. No remains of these have been observed in newer deposits, until we find them in the Tertiaries. The nucules, associated with Lymnaea and Planorbis, are very abundant in the Eocene Bembridge beds (q. v.).

CHARACI'NIDE. See SALMONIDE.

It is probable that, partly from the thoughtless good-nature, and partly from a selfish desire to get rid of a bad servant in the most comfortable manner, false characters are given in favour of servants very much more frequently than to their prejudice. It is desirable that masters and mistresses should have in view that they may render themselves liable in reparation of any damage which can be shewn to be the direct result of thus inflicting on a stranger a wrong which is unquestionably within the reach of the law.

CHARACTER TO SERVANT. The master is under no legal obligation, either in England or in Scotland, to give a character to his servant, however long, faithfully, or efficiently he may have served him; the duty of bearing testimony in his favour being one which, however binding in morality, it has not been found convenient to enforce by positive law; but, if given, the character must be strictly true, or, at all events, in accordance with the master's belief, otherwise he may be exposed to an

By 32 George III. c. 56, personating a master, and thus giving a false character to a servant, or asserting in writing that a servant has been hired for a period of time, or in a station, &c., contrary to truth; and any person offering himself as a servant, pretending to have served where he has not served, or producing a false certificate, or altering a certificate, or pretending not to have been in any former service, &c., are offences at common law, punishable on conviction before two justices with a fine of £20. This statute does not extend to Scotland.

CHARACTERI'STIC.

See LOGARITHMS. CHARA'DE, or 'syllable-puzzle' as the Germans call it, is an amusement which consists in dividing a word of one or more syllables into its component syllables, or into its component letters, predicating something of each; and then, having reunited the whole, and predicated something of that also, the reader or listener is asked to guess the word. specimen of the C. depending upon syllables, we adduce the following:

As a

CHA'RACTER (Gr. charasso or charatto, which signifies to scrape, cut, or engrave), means what is engraven on an object, either physically by the action of another external object or objects, or morally by the passions, the affections, by good or evil fortune, and by what we designate generally as 'circumstances.' In art, the expression of C., either in animate or inanimate objects, is, after correct de-ally be given for it, and the latter is often tasteless withlineation, the most important matter to be attended out it. My whole applies equally to spring, summer, to. Though, properly speaking, all distinguishing autumn, and winter; and both fish and Lesh, praise and marks are included under it, it is more generally used censure, mirth and melancholy, are the better for being to designate those which mark individual from in it. Ans. Sea-son.' individual, than species from species, or genus from genus.

frequently buried in it to little purpose. My second is 'My first is ploughed for various reasons, and grain is neither riches nor honours, yet the former would gener

As a specimen of the second class of charades, we take the following happy example from the French:

CHARADRIADÆ-CHARGE.

tators.

.

CHARENTE, a department of France, formed chiefly out of the old province of Angoumois, and situated in lat. 45° 10'-46° 8' N., and long. 0° 50′ E. and 0° 30′ W. Area, about 2200 square miles. by the river Charente, above noticed, and its Pop. 379,081. It is generally hilly, and is watered tributaries, the Tardouère and the Bandiat, with the rivers Vienne and Dronne. of hills in the north of C. is a continuation of the The highest chain

retire to a private apartment, and there agree to
select a certain word, as the subject of the C.; let
us suppose INNKEEPER. The next thing done is to
take the first syllable, INN, and arrange a little scene
and dialogue, each member taking a certain part.
This being accomplished, the amateur actors return
to the drawing-room, and commence their perform-
ance, the rest of the company constituting the spec-
Care is taken to mention conspicuously, and
yet not obtrusively, in the course of the dialogue,
the word INN, which is the subject of the scene.
On its conclusion, they again retire, and devise a
new series of incidents for the word KEEPER, gene-
rally something in connection with a menagerie or a
madhouse. This being also represented, they retire
for a third time, to contrive the final scene, into
which both words, or rather the whole word, Inn-heights of Limousin, forming the watershed towards
the Loire. Remains of marine productions show
that the basin of the C. was once filled by the
Ocean. The soil is mostly limestone, here and there
interrupted by banks of clay and gravel. Only a
portion of the arrondissement Confolens has a rich
moist, while the limestone district is dry and hot.
vegetable clay-mould. The clay-soil is cool and
The hills are in many places clad with chestnut
forests. The climate is generally mild and healthy.
The wines grown are spirituous and fiery in flavour,
and are chiefly used in the manufacture of Cognac,
which forms the most important of the exports.
Truffles grow abundantly in several parts. Industry
is in rather a backward condition.
the five arrondissements of Angoulême, Cognac,
Ruffec, Barbezieux, and Confolens.

keeper, must be dexterously introduced at an odd
moment when the spectators are thought to be off
the scent. The company are then asked to guess
the word. In order effective performance
In order to the effective performance of
a C. of this sort, the actors must possess a good
share of inventiveness, self-possession, and ready
talk, as the greater portion of the dialogue has to be
extemporised.

C. is divided into

CHARADRI'ADE, a large family of birds, of the order Grallatores, and tribe Pressirostres, chiefly abounding in the temperate parts of the Old World, and generally frequenting sandy unsheltered shores and open moors and downs. They have a short bill, generally soft at the base, hard and often a little inflated towards the tip; long and powerful wings; long legs; and short toes, generally only three in number, and all directed forward, but sometimes they have also a very small hinder toe. They run with great swiftness; they generally congregate in flocks, at least during certain parts of the year; many of them are nocturnal in their habits; many are migratory. The Plovers (Charadrius) have given their name to the family, which includes also Lapwings, Pratincoles, Oyster-catchers, Turnstones, Sanderlings, &c.

CHA'RCOAL is a popular term applied to charred wood, or coal produced by charring wood. There are several other varieties of C., however, for which see CARBON, ANIMAL CHARCOAL, WOOD CHARCOAL, COKE, BLACK-LEAD, &c.

'runs north-west past Saintes, and falls into the Atlantic below Rochefort, and opposite the islands Oléron and Aix. This river gives its name to two departments, both remarkable for the productive ness of their vineyards; but the wines are mostly used in the preparation of brandy and liqueurs.

CHARBON ROUGE, or RED CHARCOAL, is a variety of charcoal obtained by subjecting wood to the action of heated air from furnaces, or of steam, which has been raised to a temperature of 572° F. Air-dried wood, by the ordinary process of charring, yields at the best 21 to 26 per cent. of black char-in coal; but when acted on by heated air or steam, as mentioned above, 36 or 42 per cent. of C. R. is obtained. It is now prepared largely in France and Belgium, and is used in stoves for heating, and in the preparation of gunpowder. It has a dark-red colour, and consists of about 75 per cent. pure carbon, and 25 per cent, hydrogen and oxygen.

CHARCOAL BLACKS are made both from animal and vegetable substances-e. g., burnt ivory, bones, vine-twigs, peach-stones, nut and other shells, the smoke of rosin condensed, &c. Those which are derived from vegetable substances, when mixed with white, are usually of a blue tint. See LAMP BLACK.

CHARENTE-INFÉRIEURE, a maritime department of France, which includes the former province of Angoumois, with the greater part of Saintonge, and a small portion of Poitou. It lies in lat. 45° 5' —46° 19′ N., and long. 0° 7′ E.-1° 13′ W. The Bay of Biscay washes its western boundary-the coast-line, which is very broken, measuring about 100 miles. Area, 2740 miles. Pop. 481,060. It is watered on its boundaries by the Sèvre-Niortaise and the Gironde, and in the centre by the navigable Charente and the coast-stream Sendre. The surface is level; and the soil-near the coast, intersected by ridges of rock and sand-banks, and protected from the sea by dikes-is mostly chalky and sandy, but very fertile, producing hemp, flax, saffron, and wine great quantities. The commerce, facilitated by the structure of the coast,, and by canals in the interior, is considerable, consisting chiefly of brandy and sea-salt, which is found in the department in great abundance. The oyster and pilchard fisheries are important. The chief harbours are those of Rochefort, and La Rochelle, the latter of which is the chief town. C. is divided into the six arrondissements of La Rochelle, Rochefort, Marennes, Saintes, Jonzac, and St. Jean-d'Angely.

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, a town of France, in the department of Seine, situated on the right bank of the Marne, 5 miles south-east of Paris. The bridge over the river, which is important, from a military point of view, being considered one of the keys of the capital, and which has frequently been the scene of conflicts, is defended by two forts, forming a part At the other side of of the fortifications of Paris. the river is the National Lunatic Asylum, formerly called Charenton St. Maurice, and now St. Maurice, simply. Pop. 3700.

CHARENTE, a considerable river in the west of CHARGE, in Heraldry. The figures represented France, rises in the department of Haute-Vienne, on a shield are called charges, and a shield with about 14 miles north-west of Chalus. It first flows figures upon it is said to be charged (Fr. chargé). north-west to Civray, where it turns southward The charges in a shield ought to be few in number, into the department of Charente to Angoulême, and strongly marked, both as regards their charthence it flows westward past Châteauneuf, Jarnac, acter and the mode of their representation. The and Cognac, and entering Charente-Inférieure, it family shield belonging to the head of the house,

CHARGE-CHARITY COMMISSIONERS.

almost always is simpler, i. e., has fewer charges, the city, and was often adorned with splendid art. than the shields of collaterals, or even of junior

members.

The war-C. held two persons-ths soldier himself and the driver, the latter of whom usually occupied the front; but the chariots used by the Romans in their public games held only the charioteer.

The oldest war-chariots of which we read are those of Pharaoh (Exodus xiv. 7). All the eastern nations used them, while we learn from Cæsar (De Bell. Gall., v. 19) that the Britons also were familiar with their use.

CHARGE, in Military Warfare, is a sudden and impetuous attack on the enemy, by horse or foot, or both. Its object usually is to drive the enemy from a particular position; but if made with a much stronger force, it may result in his actual destruction.

CHARGE, in Military Pyrotechny, is sufficient combustible material for one firing or discharge. It is applicable to all kinds of firings, fireworks, and explosions; but the name is generally given to the quantity of gunpowder requisite for firing off a gun, &c. In cannon, this varies greatly, from toof the weight of the shot; some of the rifled ordnance now coming into use are remarkable for the smallness of the C. with which they are fired. The quota of C. will be mentioned in connection with the various kinds of firearms described in the Encyclopædia. In breaching a wall, a greater C. is necessary than in attacking a ship or a column of troops, even with the same kind of gun and projectile.

CHAʼRITABLE USES AND LAW OF CHARITIES. The law of England has always anxiously, though too often ineffectually, sought to provide for the preservation and proper application of the munificent private endowments in that country for charitable purposes. The preceding efforts of the legislature in this direction may now be said to have been superseded by the Charitable Trusts Act of 1853 (16 and 17 Vict. c. 137; amended by 18 and 19 Vict. c. 124, and 20 and 21 Vict. c. 76). See As these statutes now CHARITY COMMISSIONERS. contain a species of code of charity-law, it will CHARGE. In the law of Scotland, a C. is a com- here only be necessary to mention certain general mand to perform an act, conveyed in the letters of principles which govern the law of England in its relation to charities. The courts of equity are the sovereign. The same term is applied to a messenger's copy for service, requiring the person to those which in general take cognizance of all obey the order contained in the letters-e. g., a C. charitable uses, or trusts of a public description. on letters of horning, or a C. against a superior. Under the authority of these tribunals—or, in cases in which the annual income does not exceed £30, CHARGER is a name sometimes given to a war-in accordance with the act just quoted, under that horse, accustomed to the din of battles, and reliable of the county courts of the district-trustees may under circumstances of confusion and danger. In be called to account for the funds committed to the middle ages, when armour was used, and gun- their charge, or new trustees may be appointed, powder unknown, the military horses were barbed improvident alienations may be rescinded, schemes. or barded when ridden by men-at-arms-that is, they for carrying the donor's object into effect may be were nearly covered with armour. The face, the head, and the ears were covered with a mask called judicially considered and adopted, and every species of relief afforded which such institutions require. a chanfron, to prevent fright when charging the Where the management of the charity has been enemy; and an iron spike projected from the middle confided by the donor to governors and other of the forehead. The neck was defended by small functionaries, the law will not interfere with their plates called crinières; the breast by a poitrinal; proceedings unless they can be shown to be squanand the buttocks and haunches by croupières. These dering the revenues or otherwise abusing the trust. various pieces of armour were mostly made of metal, Where the crown is founder, the Lord Chancellor is but sometimes of tough leather. The horse was occasionally covered with chain-mail; and in other visitor, but in his personal character only, and not instances with a gambeson of stuffed and quilted nature of the trusts to which the equitable jurisdicas judge of the Court of Chancery. As regards the cloth. The man at-arms generally rode another tian of the chancery extends, it is necessary to horse when not charging, to relieve the C. from his remark that the word charitable here includes instigreat burden. The barbed or bardé horse received tutions for the advancement of learning, science, and its name from an old French word implying covered, art, and, indeed, for all useful public purposes, as clothed, or armed. A war-horse is still called a C., well as for the support of the poor. It also comthough not armed as in ancient times. prises all donations for pious and religious objects, CHARGÉS D'AFFAIRES are fourth-class diplo- under which are included all those which tend to the matic agents, accredited, not to the sovereign, but benefit of the Church of England, or of any body of to the department for foreign affairs; they also hold dissenters sanctioned by law. Roman Catholics their credentials only from the minister, and are were admitted into this category by 2 and 3 Will. c. sometimes only empowered by an ambassador to act 115, and Jews by 9 and 10 Vict. c. 59, s. 2. The charity, or other benevolent purpose, however, must be public; for if a sum of money be bequeathed, with direction to apply it to such purposes of benevolence and liberality as the executor shall approve,' or even in private charity,' the law will take no notice of such a trust.

in his absence.

CHA'RIOT, in ancient times, was a kind of carriage used either for pleasure or in war. According to the Greeks, it was invented by Minerva; while Virgil ascribes the honour to Erichthonius, a mythical king of Athens, who is said to have appeared at the Panathenaic festival founded by him, in a car drawn by four horses. The ancient C. had only two wheels, which revolved upon the axle, as in modern carriages. The pole was fixed at its lower extremity to the axle, and at the other end was attached to the yoke, either by a pin or by ropes. The Greeks and

Romans seem never to have used more than one
pole, but the Lydians had carriages with two or
three. In general, the C. was drawn by two horses.
Such was the Roman Biga (q. v.), but we also read
of a triga, or three-horse C., and a quadriga, or four-
horse one.
The last was that in which the Roman
generals rode during their triumphal entrance into

Legacies to pious or charitable uses are not by the law of England entitled to a preference, though such was the doctrine of the civilians; but where a deficiency of assets arises, they are abated in proportion with the others.

CHA'RITY, SISTERS OF. See SISTERS OF CHAR

ITY.

CHARITY COMMISSIONERS. A body of commissioners was created in 1853, by the Charitable Trusts Act, 16 and 17 Vict. c. 137 (see CHARITABLE USES), with power to inquire into all charities in England and Wales, with reference to their

CHARIVARI-CHARLEMAGNE.

nature, objects, and administration, and the amount and condition of the property belonging to them. The commissioners have power to call for the production of accounts and documents from trustees, and to appoint inspectors to visit and report on their management. The statute does not extend to Scotland or Ireland, to the English universities, or to the city of London. An annual report of their proceedings must be laid before parliament by the commissioners.

CHARIVARI is a French term used to designate a wild tumult and uproar, produced by the beating of pans, kettles, and dishes, mingled with whistling, bawling, groans, and hisses, and got up for the purpose of expressing a general dislike to the person against whom it is directed. The etymology of C. is obscure; the Germans translate it by Katzenmusik, the English of which is caterwauling. In France, during the middle ages, a C. was generally raised against persous contracting second nuptials, in which case the widow was specially assailed. On these occasions, the participators in it, who were masked, accompanied their hubbub by the singing of satirical and indecent verses, and would not cease till the wedding couple had purchased their peace by ransom. C. answers to the English

concert upon 'marrow-bones and cleavers,' with

which it was customary to attack a married couple
who lived in notorious discord. It was also got up
against an unequal match, such as where there
was great disparity in age between the bride and
bridegroom.
to have existed under

Similar customs seem

different names in all parts of Europe, and sometimes they were of such a licentious and violent character as to require military interference to put them down. Even as early as the 14th c., the church found itself forced to threaten punishment, and even excommunication, against those who participated in them. In more recent times, the C. has taken a purely political colouring; as, for example, during the Restoration in France, at which time, however, the popular voice began to seek vent by casting its satirical darts against public men through the press. The papers published for this purpose were called C., the most famous among which is the CHARIVARI, which was established in Paris, December 2, 1832, corresponding to the English publication,

Punch.

CHARKO'V. See KHARKOV. CHA'RLATAN, a mountebank, quack-doctor, or empiric, and hence any one who makes loud pretensions to knowledge or skill that he does not possess. The word seems to be derived from the Ital. ciarlare, to babble or talk, the chief art of the C. consisting in talk. Charlatanism abounds in all departments of life, and manifests itself in various ways according to the subject and character of the person. It changes also in form with the spirit of the time. The medical C. no longer appears on a stage in the guise of Doctor Ironbeard, but as a fine-dressed gentleman, receiving grateful acknowledgments through the newspapers, and publishing popular medical books, with the address of the author, and recommendations to apply to him. It has not unfrequently happened, however, that extraordinary men who were so far before their age as not to be understood by it, such as Paracelsus, have passed for charlatans until more justly estimated by later times. Several books have been written on the charlatanism of scholars. J. B. Mencke's satire, De Charlataneria Eruditorum (Leip. 1715), is a classical work, which has been continued by Büschel in his book, Über die Charlatanerie der Gelehrten seit Mencke.

C.

CHARLEMAGNE, i. e. Charles the Great, king of the Franks (768-814 A. D.), and Roman emperor (800—814 a. n.), was born on 2d April, 742, probably at Aix-la-Chapelle, and was the son of Pepin the Short, the first Carlovingian (q. v.) king of the Franks, and grandson of Charles Martel (q. v.). On Pepin's death in 768, he and his brother Carloman jointly succeeded to the throne. By Carloman's death, and the exclusion of both his sons from the throne, C. became sole king. In 772, it was resolved Saxons, for the security of the frontiers, which they in the Diet at Worms to make war against the continually threatened, and for the extension of the Christian religion. C. advanced as far as the Weser in 772, securing his conquests by castles and garrisons. Pope Adrian I. now called him to his aid against Desiderius, king of the Lombards. had married the daughter of Desiderius, and had sent her back to her father because she bore him no children, and married Hildegarde, daughter of revenge by urging the pope to crown the sons the Swabian duke, Godfrey. Desiderius had sought of Carloman, and on the pope's refusal, had laid waste the papal territory. C. crossed the Alps from Geneva, with two armies, by the Great St. Bernard and Mont Cenis, in 773, and overthrew the kingdom of the Lombards in 774. The Lombard dukes acknowledged him as their king, and he secured the had made to the papal see, of the exarchate of Rafavour by gift which Pepin venna. In 775, he was again employed in the most northerly part of his dominions, reducing the Saxons to subjection; in 776, he suppressed an insurrection the Saxons, that their nobles generally acknowin Italy; in 777, he so completed his victory over Paderborn. Being now invited to interpose in the ledged him as their sovereign in an assembly at to that country in 778, and added to his dominions wars of the Arabs and Moors in Spain, he hastened the regions between the Pyrenees and the Ebro. insurrection of part of the Saxons, who had adFrom Spain he was summoned in haste by a new vanced almost to Cologne, but whom he drove back to the Elbe. the pope crowned his second son, Pepin, king of In 781, he went to Italy, where Italy, and his third son, Louis, an infant of three years old, king of Aquitaine. The Saxons once Frankish army on the Süntel in 782, which C., after more rising in arms, defeated and destroyed a a new victory, fearfully revenged by causing no fewer than 4500 prisoners to be executed as rebels in one day. A more general rising of the Saxons followed, but in 783-785, the Frankish monarch succeeded in reducing them completely to subjection, and in persuading their principal chiefs to submit to baptism, and to become his faithful vassals. Subsequent insurrections and wars in Germany, between this year and 800, resulted in victories over the Bulgarians and Huns, and in the further consolidation and extension of his empire, the eastern boundary of which now reached to the Raab.

In 800, C. undertook an Italian campaign, which was attended with the most important consequences. Its immediate purpose was to support Pope Leo. III. against the rebellious Romans. When C., on Christmas Day, 800, was worshipping in St. Peter's Church, the pope unexpectedly, as it appeared, set a crown upon his head, and, amid the acclamations of the people, saluted him as Carolus Augustus, emperor of the Romans. Although this added nothing directly to his power, yet it greatly confirmed and increased the respect entertained for him, such was still the lustre of a title with which were associated recollections of all the greatness of the Roman empire. A scheme for the union of the newly revived

CHARLEROI-CHARLES.

power

Western Empire with the Empire of the East, by C's marriage with Irene (q. v.), the Byzantine empress, failed by reason of Irene's overthrow, After this, C. still extended and confirmed his conquests both in Spain and Germany. He laboured to bring the Saxons to a general reception of Christianity, and founded bishoprics for this purpose. To the end of his reign, he was incessantly engaged in wars, and insurrections were always apt to break out in the frontier parts of his dominions; which he endeavoured to secure, however, not only by military power and arrangements, but by improvements in political and social institutions. His views were liberal and enlightened to a degree rare for many subsequent ages. Whilst he made the of the central government to be felt to the utmost extremities of his empire, he recognised in his subjects civil rights, and a limitation of monarchic power by their assemblies. He zealously endeavoured to promote education, agriculture, arts, manufactures, and commerce. He projected great national works, one of which was a canal to connect the Rhine and the Danube; but he deemed nothing beneath his attention which concerned the interests of his empire or of his subjects. He required his subjects to plant certain kinds of fruit-trees, the cultivation of which was thus extended northward in Europe. His own domains were an example of superior cultivation. He had a school in his palace for the sons of his servants. He built sumptuous palaces, particularly at his favourite residences, Aix-la-Chapelle and Ingelheim -for he had no fixed capital-and many churches. Learned men were encouraged to come to his court. He himself possessed an amount of learning unusual in his age; he could speak Latin and read Greek. He attempted to draw up a grammar of his own language. C. was of more than ordinary stature, and of a noble and commanding appearance. He was fond of manly exercises, particularly of hunting. He was too amorous, but in eating and drinking he was very moderate. His fame spread to all parts of the world: in 768, Harun-al-Raschid sent ambassadors to salute him. He enjoyed good health till shortly before his death, 28th January 814. He was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle (q. v.), in a church Crown of C., which he had built there. He was now at Vienna. succeeded by his son Louis, styled Louis le Débonnaire, the only one of his sons who survived him; but the greatness of his dynasty terminated with his own life. C. is styled

Charles I. in the enumeration both of the French kings and of the German or Roman emperors. Besides his capitularies (q. v.), there are extant letters and Latin poems ascribed to him. His life was written by his secretary, Eginhard.

CHARLEROI, a Belgian town and fortress in the province of Hainaut, stands on the Sambre, | between Mons and Namur, on the line of the Brussels and Namur railway. The population is about 6500, who carry on considerable manufactures in hardware, glass, woollen-yarn, &c. The district is rich in coal, and the number of smelting-furnaces and nail-factories in the neighbourhood is very great. The ironworks of Couliers, which yield a third of all the cast iron produced in Belgium, lie within a mile or two of the town. C. possesses considerable historical and political interest as a fortress. The fortifications were begun by the Spaniards in 1666, but falling into the hands of the French next year, they were completed by Vauban. After six exchanges of masters between the French and Spaniards, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, left C. in the possession of Austria. In 1794, after

a protracted and desperate resistance, it was surrendered to the French by capitulation, when the fortifications were demolished. The importance of the place in a strategic point of view having become apparent during the campaign of 1815, the fortifications have been since restored.

the

CHARLES, surnamed MARTEL-i. e. Hammer-was the son of Pepin of Heristal, mayor of the palace under the last Merovingian kings, and was born about 690 a. n. After his father's death in 714, he was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasian party. King Chilperic and he now quarrelied, and a civil war arose, which ended in C. becoming undisputed mayor of the palace and ruler of the Franks. During the latter years of his life, he indeed allowed the nominal throne to remain occupied the titular kings being mere puppets in his hands. He was much engaged in wars against the revolted Alemanni and Bavarians, the Saxons, &c., but his importance as a historic personage is chiefly due to his wars against the Saracens, who, having conquered Septimania from the Western Goths in 720, advanced thence into Aquitaine, conquered Bordeaux, defeated the Duke of Aquitaine, crossed the Garonne, advanced to the Loire, and threatened Tours. C. defeated them between Tours and Poictiers in 732, in a great battle, in which their leader, Abd-ur-Rahmân, fell, and a stop was put to their progress in Europe, which had filled all Christendom with alarm. He defeated them again in 738, when they had advanced in the Burgundian territories as far as Lyon; deprived them of Languedoc, which he added to the kingdom of the Franks; and left them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the river Aude. He died on the 22d October 741, at Quiercy on the Oise, in the midst of his victories, his projects, and his greatness, leaving the government of the kingdom to be divided between his two sons-Carloman, and Pepin the Short.

CHARLES, Archduke of Austria, third son of the Emperor Leopold II, was born at Florence, 5th September 1771. Whilst yet a youth, he pursued military studies with much ardour; and after having greatly distinguished himself as a general in inferior commands, he was intrusted, in 1796, with the chief command of the Austrian army on the Rhine. He fought with great success against Moreau at Rastadt, defeated Jourdan in several battles, drove the French over the Rhine, and concluded his victories by taking Kehl in the winter. In 1799, he was again at the head of the army on the Rhine, was several times victorious ovor Jourdan, protected Swabia, and successfully opposed Massena. In 1800, bad health compelled him to retire from active service; but being appointed governor-general of Bohemia, he formed a new army there. After the battle of Hohenlinden, he was again called to the chief command, and succeeded in staying the rapid progress of Moreau, but almost immediately entered into an armistice with him, which was followed by the peace of Luneville. In 1805, he commanded the army opposed to Massena in Italy, and fought the hard battle of Caldiero; but upon bad tidings from Germany, retreated from the left bank of the Adige to Croatia. This retreat was one of his greatest military achievements. In 1809, he won the great battle of Aspern, which first shewed to Europe that Napoleon was not invincible; but he did not promptly enough follow up his victory, and Napoleon, who hastened to reinforce his army, retrieved his fortunes at Wagram, and the archduke was now compelled to give way before the enemy, till he reached Znaim, where an armistice was concluded on 12th July. In the campaigns of 1813 and 1814