Part 8

A recital of the ancient customs of England, defining the relations between the Church and the Crown, drawn up by order of Henry II, and accepted, after much opposition, by Thomas á Becket on behalf of the Church. It made the criminous clerk subject to the civil jurisdiction, provided that questions relating to land claimed by the Crown should be submitted to a jury, constituted the King the final court of appeal, and limited the power of the bishops. By these and other provisions, the supremacy of the Crown was assured. The constitutions were promulgated at the Council of Clarendon in 1164.

Consulta.

The committee of three members of the Council of State of the Netherlands, during the regency of Margaret of Parma, 1559 to 1567. The three were Viglius, Barlaymont, and the Bishop of Arras.

Continental Blockade.

A system established by Napoleon, in 1806, by the Berlin Decree. In this instrument he declared the whole of the British Isles to be in a state of blockade, and forbade any correspondence with them on the part of the countries dependent on him. He further declared all Englishmen found in any country occupied by French troops to be prisoners of war, and ordered all English merchandise and all private property of English subjects wherever found to be confiscated. So impracticable was it to carry out this system that, within the year, Napoleon found it necessary to purchase English cloth to clothe his own troops.

Contra-Remonstrants.

The Gomarists, the opponents of the Arminians in the Netherlands, were so called from their having presented to the States-General a counter-remonstrance, protesting against the five articles set out in the remonstrance of the Arminians in 1610.

Contracting Out.

The chief point at issue in the Employers’ Liability Bill of 1893. The difference of opinion between the two Houses on this point wrecked the bill. _See_ Employers’ Liability.

Conventicle Act.

An Act passed in 1664, rendering illegal any meeting for religious purposes which was attended by more than five persons beyond the family, unless held in accordance with Church of England practice.

Conventicles.

Open air meetings for public worship held by the dispossessed Scotch ministers, after the establishment of the Episcopal Church in Scotland at the Restoration. They were declared illegal, were then permitted by Indulgence, and finally again made illegal, and suppressed whenever possible.

Convention Parliament.

Two Parliaments are known by this title, being irregular assemblies, as not having been summoned by Royal Writ--(1) The Parliament which restored the Crown to Charles II in 1660. (2) The Parliament which offered the throne to William and Mary in 1689.

Conventions Bill.

An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1793. It forbade the holding of meetings for the purpose of petitioning the King or Parliament, and also the election of delegates to attend such meetings.

Convicts Prevention Act.

An Act passed by the Victorian Legislature in 1852, forbidding the immigration into the colony of any but free men, thus shutting out ticket-of-leave men from the penal settlements. The Queen at first refused her assent, but the bill was passed a second time and became law.

Conway’s Cabal.

_See_ Cabal, American.

Co-operation.

The first Co-operative Society was started in 1844 by twenty-eight Rochdale weavers. They began their operations with a capital of £28 only, and in sixteen years the Society was worth over £120,000.

Copperheads.

A name given by the Federals, during the American Civil War, to the Peace Party in the Northern States. The copperhead is a peculiarly venomous snake, as deadly as the rattlesnake and more dangerous, because not provided with the warning rattle.

Coppernose.

A nickname of Henry VIII. derived from the silver coinage of his reign, which was made of an alloy containing a quantity of copper.

Copyhold.

A tenure by service, as opposed to freehold or leasehold. In most cases the service has long since been commuted for a small annual payment. In the event of a copyholder dying intestate and without issue, the copyhold reverts to the Lord of the Manor.

Cordeliers.

A revolutionary club in Paris, in the early days of the French Revolution, composed mainly of the partisans of Danton. It took its name from an old monastery of the Cordelier order, where its meetings were held.

Corn Law of 1804.

An Act establishing a prohibitive duty on foreign corn while the price of English wheat stood at 63s. per quarter or under, and fixing the duty at 3s. 6d. per quarter with the price between 63s. and 66s., and at 6d. per quarter with the price above 66s.

Corn Law of 1815.

An Act prohibiting the importation of foreign corn, until the price of English wheat stood at 80s. per quarter.

Corn Law of 1824.

An Act reaffirming the principle of the sliding scale of duties on imported grain, as in the Corn Law of 1804.

Corn Laws, Repeal of the.

An Act passed by Sir Robert Peel’s Government in 1846, reducing immediately the tax on foreign grain, and providing for its ultimate abolition, with the exception of a registration duty amounting to 1s. per quarter. This Act was mainly the result of the efforts of the Anti-Corn Law League.

Cornwall, Duchy of.

Cornwall was created a Duchy by Edward III, and its revenues were assigned to the maintenance of his eldest son, the Prince of Wales. Since that period the eldest son of the Sovereign has borne the title of Duke of Cornwall, and enjoyed the revenues of the Duchy. Alterations in the internal administration were made by Acts passed in 1863 and 1893.

Coronation Stone.

The ancient Scottish Coronation Stone of Scone was brought to England by Edward I, after his defeat of Balliol at Dunbar in 1296, and is now in Westminster Abbey.

Corporal John.

The great Duke of Marlborough was so called by his soldiers.

Corporation Act.

An Act passed in 1661, compelling all holders of office in corporations to swear to their belief in the doctrine of Passive Obedience, to receive the sacrament according to the rites of the English Church, and to renounce the Covenant. This Act was not repealed until 1828.

Corsican Ogre.

A nickname of the great Napoleon.

Cortes.

The Spanish Parliament is so called.

Corti Compromise.

A compromise proposed by Count Corti, Italian Ambassador to the Porte in 1880, to meet the difficulties raised by Turkey in carrying out the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, relative to Montenegro. He proposed that Turkey should retain Gussinje and Plava, ceding instead Kutschi-Kraina and Podgoritza.

Corvée.

Enforced labour on the roads and other public works, exacted from the French peasant before the Revolution. The same system prevailed in Egypt prior to the English occupation.

Cossacks.

The inhabitants of the debateable land between the Russian frontier and the Crim Tartars. The most important of these communities were those of the Dnieper and the Don. They retained a certain degree of independence until the reign of Catherine II of Russia. The soldiers of the military cordon established by the Russians and Poles along their southern frontiers were also known as Cossacks.

Cottereaux.

Bands of mercenaries in the French service during the twelfth century.

Cotton Famine.

The name given to the distress in Lancashire in 1862, in consequence of the cessation of cotton shipments from America during the Civil War, by which thousands of operatives were thrown out of employment. Large sums were received by subscriptions in aid, and in August of that year the Relief Act was passed, by which loans were granted to the guardians to enable them to establish relief works.

Council of State.

A council of forty-one members, in whom Parliament vested the executive power, on the proclamation of the Commonwealth in 1649. They were appointed for one year.

Councils.

_See_ Ancients, Anziani, Aulic, Blood, Castle, Clarendon, Consulta, Colonies, Federal, Fifteen, Five Hundred, Hlutdaw, Indies, Kilkenny, Magnum, North, Policy, Reason, Sixteen, Ten, Thirty-six.

Councils, Church.

_See_ Bari, Basle, Clermont, Constance, Constantinople, Dort, Lateran, Lyons, Nicæa, Œcumenical, Pisa, Trent, Vatican, Vienne.

Country Party.

A political party, formed about 1673, under the leadership of Lords Russell and Cavendish. They were in full sympathy with the demands of the Dissenters for toleration, and made it their special business to keep a watch on the religious and political designs of the Court. They afterwards became known as Whigs.

County Palatine.

A county possessing certain Royal privileges, created originally for defence of the frontier against the Welsh, the Scotch and the French. They were Chester, Lancaster, Durham, Kent, Shropshire, Pembrokeshire, and Hexhamshire. Only the three first named retained any of their privileges beyond the sixteenth century.

Coup d’Etat.

A term applied to any overthrow of free institutions by military intervention, but used especially to denote the bold stroke of Louis Napoleon, who by a display of military force in the Paris streets in December, 1851, and the imprisonment of the Republican members of the Chamber, succeeded in getting himself proclaimed Consul, and, later, Emperor.

Cour d’Héritage.

An ancient feudal court in Jersey, having jurisdiction over all disputed questions as to landed property.

Cours Plénières.

Assemblies of the Barons, called, on the great festivals of the year, by the early kings of France and England.

Court Baron.

A court of the old Norman Manor, summoned to settle all questions arising out of the cultivation of the demesne land of the Manor.

Court Customary.

A baronial court in feudal times held to decide questions arising out of the tenure of land by villeins.

Court Leet.

Under Henry I the Hundred Court was so called, when it sat for the purpose of trying criminal cases under the presidency of the Sheriff.

Courte Paix.

_See_ Longjumeau.

Courts.

_See_ Audiencias, Augmentations, Aulic, Austrägal, College of Justice, Chambre, Confines, Consistorium, Curia Regis, Four Burghs, Great Session, Haute Cour, Heemraden, High Commission, Jews, Manor, Parlement, Piés Poudrées, Reichskammergericht, Requests, Salford, Star Chamber, Tribunal, Tynwald, Vehmgericht, Wales.

Coventry Act.

An Act passed in 1671 declaring nose-slitting or other mutilation of the person to be a felony. It was passed in consequence of a dastardly attack upon Sir James Coventry, a Member of Parliament, who, having incurred the enmity of the Court party by some comments in the House on Charles the Second’s _liaison_ with Nell Gwynne, was waylaid on his way home by Sir Thomas Sandys and some of the King’s friends, who dragged him from his coach and slit his nose to the bone.

Cowboys.

Bands of British marauders who infested the banks of the Hudson River during the American War of Independence. The name is now applied to the cattlemen on the ranches in the Far West.

Cowper-Temple Clause.

A clause inserted in the Education Act of 1870, embodying an amendment moved by Mr. Cowper-Temple. It provides that unsectarian Bible teaching shall be given during school hours in all rate-aided schools under the School Boards.

Coyne and Livery.

The right of an Irish chieftain to quarter his soldiery on the tenants. It was forbidden by the Statute of Kilkenny in 1307, and was finally stopped in 1603. It was called by the Irish “Bonaght.”

Cradle of Liberty.

The name given to Faneuil Hall, Boston, which was the place of meeting of the American patriots during the period of the Revolution.

Craigmillar, Bond of.

An agreement entered into in 1566, at the instigation of Bothwell, by Argyle, Huntly, Maitland and Sir James Balfour, with the object of compassing the death of Darnley.

Crapaud, Jean.

A Frenchman is so called, probably from the fleur-de-lys of the old French standard, which bears a faint resemblance to a toad (crapaud).

Creole State.

The State of Louisiana is so called because of the large number of its inhabitants who are descendants of the original French and Spanish settlers.

Creoles.

In Spanish America this term is applied to all persons of pure European descent, born in South America. Those with an admixture of Indian blood are known as Mestizos. The word Creole was also applied in Louisiana to those of pure French descent who were born in the Colony.

Cretan Convention.

A convention between the Porte and the Powers, signed in September, 1896. It provided for the appointment of a Christian Governor, and for the summoning of an Assembly within six months. Two-thirds of the official appointments were to be held by Christians and one third by Mohammedans. The Cretan Government was to retain one half of the Customs duties, the other half being taken by the Sultan, in lieu of the old tribute.

Crimes Act, 1882.

An Act empowering the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to suspend jury trial in disturbed districts, and to send agrarian cases for trial by a commission of three judges, with an appeal to the Court of Criminal Cases Reserved. Power of search was given to the police in proclaimed districts, and, further, power to arrest and remove strangers thought dangerous to public safety.

Crimes Act, 1887.

An Act to repress the lawlessness of the Irish Land League. It gave power to the Lord Lieutenant to proclaim the affected districts, and to suppress seditious gatherings and unlawful associations. It also provided for change of venue, in cases where a fair trial could not be relied upon under ordinary conditions.

Croppies.

A name given to the Roundheads during the Civil War. The Irish rebels of 1798 were also called by this name.

Crown, Treaty of the.

A treaty signed at Vienna in 1700, between the Emperor Leopold I, and Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, by which Leopold recognized Frederick as King of Prussia. Frederick undertook to place 10,000 men in the field for the service of the empire, if required, to support Austria in the German Diet, and to vote, as Elector, for Leopold’s son, Joseph, and his successors as occupants of the Imperial throne.

Crusade of Children.

In 1212, some 90,000 children, mostly from Germany, inspired by the crusading spirit of the times, left their homes for the Holy Land. Many who embarked at Marseilles were carried to Alexandria and there sold as slaves. Others got no further than Genoa, where they were enslaved by the Genoese.

Cum ex Apostolatus Officio, Bull.

A Bull of Pope Paul IV, issued in 1559, declaring all Protestant Princes incapable of reigning, and giving Catholics the right to levy on their possessions.

Cumbernauld, Bond of.

An agreement signed by John Graham, Earl of Montrose, and his associates, prior to their invasion of England in August, 1640, by which they bound themselves to oppose any dictatorship vested in the hands of subjects.

Cupar Justice.

_See_ Jedburgh Justice.

Curfew, or Couvrefeu.

The famous enactment of William the Conqueror, ordering all persons in the country districts to be in their houses, with all lights extinguished, by eight o’clock in winter and sunset in summer. It was presumably designed to prevent secret meetings and conspiracies directed against the King, of which there were many, owing to his unpopularity with the Saxon element of the population.

Curia Regis.

A court of law established by William the Conqueror as the Final Court of Appeal of the realm. At its head was the Justiciary, as the King’s representative. It was re-organised in the reign of Henry I, when the Exchequer Court was established by Roger of Salisbury, the Barons of the Curia Regis sitting as Barons of the Exchequer for financial purposes. It was again reconstituted by Henry II, who limited its numbers to five, and by Magna Charta, when it was divided into three courts, those of the Exchequer, the Common Pleas, and the King’s Bench. It thus took the form which lasted, with minor modifications, until the Judicature Acts of 1873-5.

Curt-Mantle.

The nickname of Henry II of England, from his wearing the short cloak of Anjou instead of the longer mantle worn by his predecessors.

Custer Massacre.

The destruction by a body of Sioux Indians of the whole of General Custer’s force, on the Little Big Horn, Montana, in 1876.

Custos Rotulorum.

The keeper of the rolls of the County Sessions. The office is generally held by the Lord Lieutenant of the County.

Cyprus Treaty.

A treaty between Great Britain and Turkey, signed in 1788, whereby the Sultan recognized the occupation and administration of Cyprus by Great Britain, with the following provisos: that a Mussulman religious tribunal should be established; that all surplus revenue should be paid to him; that the Porte should retain the right to sell or lease lands belonging to the Crown, and that Cyprus should be restored to the Porte in the event of Russia restoring Kars.

D

Dacoity.

The name given in India to brigandage or highway robbery. It was very prevalent in Burmah after the annexation.

Daimios.

The great hereditary nobles of Japan. The principal Daimios, such as the Princes of Satsuma, Choshiu, Kaga, and some others, were almost in the position of independent sovereigns, though they owed a nominal allegiance to the Emperor, and in some cases to the Shôgun. The word, strictly Dai-miyo, signifies “Great Name.”

Dalai Lama.

The sovereign pontiff or spiritual ruler of Thibet. He is supposed to be always a reincarnation of a previous holder of the office. The actual government is carried on by the Des-ri, or king.

Dancing Chancellor.

Sir Christopher Hatton, Chancellor of Queen Elizabeth, was so called. The Queen first saw him at a masque, where her attention was attracted by his graceful dancing.

Dandy King.

A nickname of Joachim Murat, King of Naples.

Danegelt.

A tax imposed for the first time by Æthelred the Unready, for the purpose of buying off the Danish invaders, in 994. It became a permanent tax till the reign of Henry II, who replaced it by “Scutage.”

Danelagh.

The country ceded to the Danes by the Treaty of Wedmore, in 878.

Danites.

A Mormon secret society, founded in 1838, for the protection of the Mormons from the “Gentiles.” It contained organized companies, called “Destruction Companies,” whose business it was to burn and destroy “Gentile” property, nominally by way of reprisals, and there is little doubt that these bands did not stop short of assassination. They were probably concerned in the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

Dannebrog, Order of the.

A Danish order of knighthood, founded by Waldemar II in 1219, and reconstituted by Christian V in 1693.

Danube Navigation Commission.

An international commission appointed in 1856, when the navigation of the Danube was thrown open to all nations. It was originally appointed for two years only, but has from time to time been continued, the last extension being for twenty-one years from 1883. Its jurisdiction extends from the mouths of the Danube to the Iron Gate.

Dardanelles, Treaty of.

A treaty signed in London in 1841, after the conclusion of the Syrian War, by England, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria and Turkey. It confirmed the agreement arrived at by the Convention of London of the previous year, depriving Mehemet Ali of all his Asiatic possessions, but securing him the Government of Egypt. It also provided that the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles should be closed to all ships of war, excepting small vessels under a special firman. This provision was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris of 1856. The Treaty of the Dardanelles is also known as the Treaty of London.

Darien Scheme.

A scheme promoted by a Scotchman named Paterson, in the reign of William III, to secure the trade with the Far East by utilising a route across the Isthmus of Darien. A company was formed, and obtained a charter from the Scottish Parliament, granting a monopoly for thirty-one years of the trade with Asia, Africa, and America, and the right to introduce all goods from those regions free of duty, excepting sugar and tobacco. In 1698, 1,200 colonists started for Darien, but were at once opposed by the Spanish colonists, and though a further expedition was dispatched in the following year, the whole enterprise failed ignominiously. The scheme had from the first been opposed in England, and was the cause of much bad blood between the two countries, and of a heavy pecuniary loss to Scotland.

Dauphin.

The title of the first-born heir-male to the French throne.

De Facto King, Statute of.

A Statute of Henry VII, passed in 1485, enacting that no person could be convicted of high treason for services rendered to the King who was actually on the throne.

Death Ride.

The charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade at Balaclava, on September 20, 1854, is so called.

Debateable Land.

A district on the English and Scottish borders, claimed by both countries, and inhabited by the Grahams, who were generally on the English side in war time, though they raided both sides of the border impartially in time of peace. The district lay between the waters of the Esk and the Sark. Under James I the whole Graham Clan was removed to Ulster.

Decamisados.

The extreme section of the Spanish revolutionists in 1821. They may be said to correspond to the French _sans-culottes_. The word means the “shirtless ones.”

December Emeute.

A meeting of about 200 students and young people, on the Nekvsi Prospekt in St. Petersburg, in 1876, at which cheers were raised for the exiles in Siberia, The police interfered, and arrested some thirty, but there seems to have been little resistance, and the affair, though supposed to have been part of a more important movement, was probably much exaggerated by the authorities.

December, Man of.

Napoleon III was so called because December was the month of his election to the Presidency, of the _Coup d’Etat_, and of his taking the title of Emperor.

December Rising.

An outbreak in St. Petersburg in December, 1825, on the accession of Nicholas I, fomented by a revolutionary society known as the Society of the North. The rightful heir to the throne was Constantine, the elder brother of Nicholas, but he had waived his rights. The revolutionists, however, made use of the question of succession to excite the mob, their real object being the overthrow of the dynasty. The rising was easily suppressed, and the ringleaders convicted and hanged. The conspirators were afterwards known as the Dekabrists.

Decet Romanum Pontificum, Bull.

A Bull of Leo X, issued in January, 1521, calling upon the German Princes to uphold the Papal authority by condemning Luther unheard.

Decimation.

An arbitrary income-tax of ten per cent. levied on all Royalists by Cromwell’s Major-Generals, in 1655.

Declaration of Independence (America).

The Manifesto issued by the second Congress in America, on July 4, 1776, declaring the colonies independent. It was only carried in Congress by a majority of one.

Declaration of Independence (Brazil).

This instrument, promulgated in 1822, proclaimed the separation of Brazil from the Crown of Portugal. The colony was erected into a constitutional monarchy, Pedro, the second son of John VI of Portugal, being proclaimed Emperor.

Declaration of Indulgence, 1673.

A proclamation by Charles II, suspending all penal laws against Dissenters. Parliament, however, held that while the King had the power of pardon in individual cases, he had no constitutional right to suspend general enactments. The King was consequently forced to withdraw the Declaration.

Declaration of Indulgence, 1687.

A proclamation by James II, issued on his sole authority, annulling all religious tests, and all penal enactments against Dissenters, which he ordered to be read in the churches. This led to the famous Protest of the Seven Bishops.

Declaration of Right.