Part 133

"Save in the one struggle in which the parties resorted to arms, the political development of Chili was free from civil disturbances, and the ruling class was distinguished among the Spanish-American nations not only for wealth and education, but for its talent for government and love of constitutional liberty. The republic was called 'the England of South America,' and it was a common boast that in Chili a pronunciamiento or a revolution was impossible. The spirit of modern Liberalism became more prevalent, … As the Liberal party became all-powerful it split into factions, divided by questions of principle and by struggles for leadership and office. … The patronage of the Chilian President is enormous, embracing not only the general civil service, but local officials, except in the municipalities, and all appointments in the army and navy and in the telegraph and railroad services and the giving out of contracts. The President has always been able to select his successor, and has exercised this power, usually in harmony with the wishes of influential statesmen, sometimes calling a conference of party chiefs to decide on a candidate. In the course of time the more advanced wing of the Liberals grew more numerous than the Moderates. The most radical section had its nucleus in a Reform Club in Santiago, composed of young university men, of whom Balmaceda was the finest orator. Entering Congress in 1868, he took a leading part in debates. … {415} In 1885 he was the most popular man in the country; but his claim to the presidential succession was contested by various other aspirants—older politicians and leaders of factions striving for supremacy in Congress. He was elected by an overwhelming majority, and as President enjoyed an unexampled degree of popularity. For two or three years the politicians who had been his party associates worked in harmony with his ideas. … At the flood of the democratic tide he was the most popular man in South America. But when the old territorial families saw the seats in Congress and the posts in the civil service that had been their prerogative filled by new men, and fortunes made by upstarts where all chances had been at their disposal, then a reaction set in, corruption was scented, and Moderate Liberals, joining hands with the Nationalists and the reviving Conservative party, formed an opposition of respectable strength. In the earlier part of his administration Balmaceda had the co-operation of the Nationalists, who were represented in the Cabinet. In the last two years of his term, when the time drew near for selecting his successor, defection and revolt and the rivalries of aspirants for the succession threw the party into disorder and angered its hitherto unquestioned leader. … In January, 1890, the Opposition were strong enough to place their candidate in the chair when the House of Representatives organized. The ministry resigned, and a conflict between the Executive and legislative branches of the Government was openly begun when the President appointed a Cabinet of his own selection. … This ministry had to face an overwhelming majority against the President, which treated him as a dictator and began to pass hostile laws and resolutions that were vetoed, and refused to consider the measures that he recommended. The ministers were cited before the Chambers and questioned about the manner of their appointment. They either declined to answer, or answered in a way that increased the animosity of Congress, which finally passed a vote of censure, in obedience to which, as was usual, the Cabinet resigned. Then Balmaceda appointed a ministry in open defiance of Congress, with Sanfuentes at its head, the man who was already spoken of as his selected candidate for the presidency. He prepared for the struggle that he invited by removing the chiefs of the administration of the departments and replacing them with men devoted to himself and his policy, and making changes in the police, the militia, and, to some extent, in the army and navy commands. The press denounced him as a dictator, and indignation meetings were held in every town. Balmaceda and his supporters pretended to be not only the champions of the people against the aristocracy, but of the principle of Chili for the Chilians."

_Appleton's Annual Cyclop., 1891, pages 123-124._

"The conflict between President Balmaceda and Congress ripened into revolution. On January 1, 1891, the Opposition members of the Senate and House of Deputies met, and signed an Act declaring that the President was unworthy of his post, and that he was no longer head of the State nor President of the Republic, as he had violated the Constitution. On January 7 the navy declared in favour of the Legislature, and against Balmaceda. The President denounced the navy as traitors, abolished all the laws of the country, declared himself Dictator, and proclaimed martial law. It was a reign of terror. The Opposition recruited an army in the Island of Santa Maria under General Urrutia and Commander Canto. On February 14 a severe fight took place with the Government troops in Iquique, and the Congressional army took possession of Pisagua. In April, President Balmaceda … delivered a long message, denouncing the navy. … The contest continued, and April 7, Arica, in the province of Tarapaca, was taken by the revolutionists. Some naval fights occurred later, and the iron-clad Blanco Encalada was blown up by the Dictator's torpedo cruisers. Finally, on August 21, General Canto landed at Concon, ten miles north of Valparaiso. Balmaceda's forces attacked immediately and were routed, losing 3,500 killed and wounded. The Congress army lost 600. On the 28th a decisive battle was fought at Placilla, near Valparaiso. The Dictator had 12,000 troops, and the opposing army 10,000. Balmaceda's forces were completely routed after five hours' hard fighting, with a loss of 1,500 men. Santiago formally surrendered, and the triumph of the Congress party was complete. A Junta, headed by Señor Jorge Montt, took charge of affairs at Valparaiso August 30. Balmaceda, who had taken refuge at the Argentine Legation in Santiago, was not able to make his escape, and to avoid capture, trial, and punishment, committed suicide, September 20, by shooting himself. On the 19th November Admiral Jorge Montt was chosen by the Electoral College, at Santiago, President of Chili, and on December 26 he was installed with great ceremony and general rejoicings."

_Annual Register, 1891, page 420._

CHILIARCHS.

Captains of thousands, in the army of the Vandals.

_T. Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, book 3, chapter 2._

CHILLIANWALLAH, Battle of (1849).

See INDIA: A. D. 1845-1849.

CHILPERIC I.

King of the Franks (Neustria), A. D. 561-584.

Chilperic II., King of the Franks, A. D. 715-720.

CHILTERN HUNDREDS, Applying for the Stewardship of the.

A seat in the British House of Commons "cannot be resigned, nor can a man who has once formally taken his seat for one constituency throw it up and contest another. Either a disqualification must be incurred, or the House must declare the seat vacant." The necessary disqualification can be incurred by accepting an office of profit under the Crown,—within certain official categories. "Certain old offices of nominal value in the gift of the Treasury are now granted, as of course, to members who wish to resign their seats in order to be quit of Parliamentary duties or to contest another constituency. These offices are the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds [Crown property in Buckinghamshire], of the manors of East Hendred, Northstead, or Hempholme, and the escheatorship of Munster. The office is resigned as soon as it has operated to vacate the seat and sever the tie between the member and his constituents."

_Sir W. R. Anson, Law and Custom of the Const., volume 1, page 84._

CHIMAKUAN FAMILY, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CHIMAKUAN FAMILY.

CHIMARIKAN FAMILY, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CHIMARIKAN FAMILY.

{416}

CHINA: The names of the Country.

"That spacious seat of ancient civilization which we call China has loomed always so large to western eyes, … that, at eras far apart, we find it to have been distinguished by different appellations according as it was regarded as the terminus of a southern sea-route coasting the great peninsulas and islands of Asia, or as that of a northern land route traversing the longitude of that continent. In the former aspect the name applied has nearly always been some form of the name Sin, Chin, Sinæ, China. In the latter point of view the region in question was known to the ancients as the land of the Seres; the middle ages as the Empire of Cathay. The name of China has been supposed, like many another word and name connected with trade and geography of the far east, to have come to us through the Malays, and to have been applied by them to the great eastern monarchy from the style of the dynasty of Thsin, which a little more than two centuries before our era enjoyed a brief but very vigorous existence. … There are reasons however for believing that the name of China must have been bestowed at a much earlier date, for it occurs in the laws of Manu, which assert the Chinas to have been degenerate Kshatryas, and in the Mahabharat, compositions many centuries older than the imperial dynasty of Thsin. … This name may have yet possibly been connected with the Thsin, or some monarchy of like dynastic title; for that dynasty had reigned locally in Shensi from the 9th century before our era; and when, at a still earlier date, the empire was partitioned into many small kingdoms, we find among them the dynasties of the Tcin and the Ching. … Some at least of the circumstances which have been collected … render it the less improbable that the Sinim of the prophet Isaiah … should be truly interpreted as indicating the Chinese. The name of China in this form was late in reaching the Greeks and Romans, and to them it probably came through people of Arabian speech, as the Arabs, being without the sound of 'ch,' made the China of the Hindus and Malays into Sin, and perhaps sometimes into Thin. Hence the Thin of the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, who appears to be the first extant author to employ the name in this form; hence also the Sinæ and Thinæ of Ptolemy. … If we now turn to the Seres we find this name mentioned by classic authors much more frequently and at an earlier date by at least a century. The name is familiar enough to the Latin poets of the Augustan age, but always in a vague way. … The name of Seres is probably from its earliest use in the west identified with the name of the silkworm and its produce, and this association continued until the name ceased entirely to be used as a geographical expression. … It was in the days of the Mongols … that China first became really known to Europe, and that by a name which, though especially applied to the northern provinces, also came to bear a more general application, Cathay. This name, Khitai, is that by which China is styled to this day by all, or nearly all, the nations which know it from an inland point of view, including the Russians, the Persians, and the nations of Turkestan; and yet it originally belonged to a people who were not Chinese at all. The Khitans were a people of Manchu race, who inhabited for centuries a country to the north-east of China." During a period between the 10th and 12th centuries, the Khitans acquired supremacy over their neighbours and established an empire which embraced Northern China and the adjoining regions of Tartary. "It must have been during this period, ending with the overthrow of the dynasty [called the Leao or Iron Dynasty] in 1123, and whilst this northern monarchy was the face which the Celestial Empire turned to Inner Asia, that the name of Khitan, Khitat, or Khitaï, became indissolubly associated with China."

_H. Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither: Preliminary Essay._

CHINA: The Origin of the People and their early History.

"The origin of the Chinese race is shrouded in some obscurity. The first records we have of them represent them as a band of immigrants settling in the north-eastern provinces of the modern empire of China, and fight their way amongst the aborigines, much as the Jews of old forced their way into Canaan against the various tribes which they found in possession of the land. It is probable that though they all entered China by the same route, they separated into bands almost on the threshold of the empire, one body, those who have left us the records of their history in the ancient Chinese books, apparently followed the course of the Yellow River, and, turning south-ward with it from its northernmost bend, settled themselves in the fertile districts of the modern provinces of Shansi and Honan. But as we find also that at about the same period a large settlement was made as far south as Annam, of which there is no mention in the books of the northern Chinese, we must assume that another body struck directly southward through the southern provinces of China to that country. The question then arises, where did these people come from? and the answer which recent research [see BABYLONIA PRIMITIVE] gives to this question is, from the south of the Caspian Sea. … In all probability, the outbreak in Susiana of, possibly, some political disturbance, in about the 24th or 23rd century B. C., drove the Chinese from the land of their adoption, and that they wandered eastward until they finally settled in China and the countries south of it. … It would appear also that the Chinese came into China possessed of the resources of Western Asian culture. They brought with them a knowledge of writing and astronomy, as well as of the arts which primarily minister to the wants and comfort of mankind. The invention of these civilising influences is traditionally attributed to the Emperor Hwang-te, who is said to have reigned from B. C. 2697-2597. But the name of this sovereign leads us to suppose that he never sat on the throne in China. One of his names, we are told, was Nai, anciently Nak, and in the Chinese paleographical collection he is described by a character composed of a group of phonetics which read Nak-kon-ti. The resemblance between this name and that of Nak-hunte, who, according to the Susian texts, was the chief of the gods, is sufficiently striking, and many of the attributes belonging to him are such as to place him on an equality with the Susian deity. {417} In exact accordance also with the system of Babylonian chronology he established a cycle of twelve years, and fixed the length of the year at 360 days composed of twelve months, with an intercalary month to balance the surplus time. He further, we are told, built a Ling tai, or observatory, reminding us of the Babylonian Zigguratu, or house of observation, 'from which to watch the movements of the heavenly bodies.' The primitive Chinese, like the Babylonians, recognised five planets besides the sun and moon, and, with one exception, knew them by the same names. … The various phases of these planets were carefully watched, and portents were derived from every real and imaginary change in their relative positions and colours. A comparison between the astrological tablets translated by Professor Sayce and the astrological chapter (27th) in the She ke, the earliest of the Dynastic Histories, shows a remarkable parallelism, not only in the general style of the forecasts, but in particular portents which are so contrary to Chinese prejudices, as a nation, and the train of thought of the people that they would be at once put down as of foreign origin, even if they were not found in the Babylonian records. … In the reign of Chwan Hu (2513-2435 B. C.), we find according to the Chinese records, that the year, as among the Chaldeans, began with the third month of the solar year, and a comparison between the ancient names of the months given in the Urh ya, the oldest Chinese dictionary, with the Accadian equivalents, shows, in some instances, an exact identity. … These parallelisms, together with a host of others which might be produced, all point to the existence of an early relationship between Chinese and Mesopotamian culture; and, armed with the advantages thus possessed, the Chinese entered into the empire over which they were ultimately to overspread themselves. But they came among tribes who, though somewhat inferior to them in general civilisation, were by no means destitute of culture. … Among such people, and others of a lower civilisation, such as the Jungs of the west and the Teks, the ancestors of the Tekke Turcomans, in the north, the Chinese succeeded in establishing themselves. The Emperor Yaou (2356-2255 B. C.) divided his kingdom into twelve portions, presided over by as many Pastors, in exact imitation of the duodenary feudal system of Susa with their twelve Pastor Princes. To Yaou succeeded Shun, who carried on the work of his predecessor of consolidating the Chinese power with energy and success. In his reign the first mention is made of religious worship. … In Shun's reign occurred the great flood which inundated most of the provinces of the existing empire. The waters, we are told, rose to so great a height, that the people had to betake themselves to the mountains to escape death. The disaster arose, as many similar disasters, though of a less magnitude, have since arisen, in consequence of the Yellow River bursting its bounds, and the 'Great Yu' was appointed to lead the waters back to their channel. With unremitting energy he set about his task, and in nine years succeeded in bringing the river under control. … As a reward for the services he had rendered to the empire, he was invested with the principality of Hea, and after having occupied the throne conjointly with Shun for some years, he succeeded that sovereign on his death, in 2208 B. C. With Yu began the dynasty of Hea, which gave place, in 1766 B. C., to the Shang Dynasty. The last sovereign of the Hea line, Kieh kwei, is said to have been a monster of iniquity, and to have suffered the just punishment for his crimes at the hands of T'ang, the prince of the State of Shang, who took his throne from him. In like manner, 640 years later, Woo Wang, the prince of Chow, overthrew Chow Sin, the last of the Shang Dynasty, and established himself as the chief of the sovereign state of the empire. By empire it must not be supposed that the empire, as it exists at present, is meant. The China of the Chow Dynasty lay between the 33rd and 38th parallels of latitude, and the 106th and 119th of longitude only, and extended over no more than portions of the provinces of Pih chih-li, Shanse, Shense, Honan, Keang-se, and Shan-tung. This territory was re-arranged by Woo Wang into the nine principalities established by Yu. … Woo is held up in Chinese history as one of the model monarchs of antiquity. … Under the next ruler, K'ang (B. C. 1078-1053), the empire was consolidated, and the feudal princes one and all acknowledged their allegiance to the ruling house of Chow. … From all accounts there speedily occurred a marked degeneracy in the characters of the Chow kings. … Already a spirit of lawlessness was spreading far and wide among the princes and nobles, and wars and rumours of wars were creating misery and unrest throughout the country. … The hand of every man was against his neighbour, and a constant state of internecine war succeeded the peace and prosperity which had existed under the rule of Woo-wang. … As time went on and the disorder increased, supernatural signs added their testimony to the impending crisis. The brazen vessels upon which Yu had engraved the nine divisions of the empire were observed to shake and totter as though foreshadowing the approaching change in the political position. Meanwhile Ts'in on the northwest, Ts'oo on the south, and Tsin on the north, having vanquished all the other states, engaged in the final struggle for the mastery over the confederate principalities. The ultimate victory rested with the state of Ts'in, and in 255 B. C., Chaou-seang Wang became the acknowledged ruler over the 'black-haired' people. Only four years were given him to reign supreme, and at the end of that time he was succeeded by his son, Heaou-wan Wang, who died almost immediately on ascending the throne. To him succeeded Chwang-seang Wang, who was followed in 246 B. C. by Che Hwang-te, the first Emperor of China. The abolition of feudalism, which was the first act of Che Hwang-to raised much discontent among those to whom the feudal system had brought power and emoluments, and the countenance which had been given to the system by Confucius and Mencius made it desirable—so thought the emperor—to demolish once for all their testimony in favour of that condition of affairs, which he had decreed should be among the things of the past. With this object he ordered that the whole existing literature, with the exception of books on medicine, agriculture, and divination should be burned. The decree was obeyed as faithfully as was possible in the case of so sweeping an ordinance, and for many years a night of ignorance rested on the country. The construction of one gigantic work—the Great Wall of China—has made the name of this monarch as famous as the destruction of the books has made it infamous. {418} Finding the Heung-nu Tartars were making dangerous inroads into the empire, he determined with characteristic thoroughness to build a huge barrier which should protect the northern frontier of the empire through all time. In 214 B. C. the work was begun under his personal supervision, and though every endeavor was made to hasten its completion he died (209) leaving it unfinished. His death was the signal for an outbreak among the dispossessed feudal princes, who, however, after some years of disorder, were again reduced to the rank of citizens by a successful leader, who adopted the title of Kaou-te, and named his dynasty that of Han (206). From that day to this, with occasional interregnums, the empire has been ruled on the lines laid down by Che Hwang-te. Dynasty has succeeded dynasty, but the political tradition has remained unchanged, and though Mongols and Manchoos have at different times wrested the throne from its legitimate heirs, they have been engulfed in the homogeneous mass inhabiting the empire, and instead of impressing their seal on the country have become but the reflection of the vanquished. The dynasties from the beginning of the earlier Han, founded, as stated above, by Kaou-te, are as follows: