CHOSE IN ACTION 



CHOI (ill 



211 



to the dramatic turbie, the shouts i.f the enraged 

 people. Tin* double clioniscs in Handel's Israel 

 in Kijifi't arc n Iso celebrated for their masterly 

 construction and grand massive effect ; ami for 

 dramatic expression those of Mendelssohn's AYy'a/i 

 Maud in the highest rank. 



In the opera as originally conceived by Peri and 

 < 'a. cini at t he clo-e of the Kit h centiin , the chorus 

 intended to imitate ih,-it of the Greek play; 

 and down to the time <>t (iluck it wan arranged in 

 two rows, without taking part in the action of the 

 piece. Since his reforms the members of the chorus 

 an- also i/niiiiuti.'i /ii-/:in/tit; and sometimes, as in 

 \nliei > Miixnnii //<>, play a most important part. 

 A definite rhythm seems essential its a means of 

 keeping the parts together in a chorus of any 

 length ; even when vVagner, who considered 

 ihuhm ' an intruder in music,' introduces choruses, 

 which lie does but sparingly, in his operas, they are 

 at once noticeable for this feature. 



< 'horal .singing has within the last forty years 

 obtained a widely popular development in Britain 

 and America, greatly owing to the publication of 

 cheap editions of classical music. The chorus 

 singers of Yorkshire are recognised as excelling; 

 but it need scarcely be said that in this depart- 

 ment of singing a very great deal of the effect 

 depends on the conductor. A remarkable feature 

 of the Crystal Palace Handel festivals is the 

 gigantic body of chorus, amounting in 1888 to 

 over 3000. See CHOIRS. 



Chose in Action ( Fr. chose, ' a thing ' ) is one 

 of the two great classes of what the English law 

 calls chattels personal. The one class is ' choses in 

 possession,' such as goods, household furniture, 

 cattle, &c. ; the other class is 'choses in action,' 

 such as the right to sue for a debt, a legacy, 

 damages, &c. The old common-law rule was 

 that, except in the case of negotiable instru- 

 ments, contracts could not be assigned so that 

 the assignee might sue in his own name ; but 

 the assignee must bring his action in the name 

 of the assignor or cedent, so that the assignee 

 was always exposed to every defence wnich 

 might have been stated against the original debtor 

 under the contract. This resulted from the 

 primitive view of contract as creating a strictly 

 personal relation between the debtor and creditor. 

 The Equity Courts, however, permitted the assign- 

 ment of debts and equitable rights, notice being 

 given to the debtor to preserve priority ; and in 

 particular cases e.g. policies of insurance under a 

 statute of 1867, the full right of assignment was 

 permitted. Now, under the Judicature Act, 1873, 

 every legal chose in action is absolutely assignable 

 if express notice in writing be given to the debtor ; 

 and although the words of the statute do not 

 extend to assignment by way of security, or to any 

 assignment of what is called an equitable chose in 

 action, there is now little practical distinction 

 between the two. 



In the United States that quality of a chose in 

 action rendering it unassignable at common law 

 is fast disappearing. In some states a chose in 

 action may not only be assigned, but the assignee 

 may bring a suit for possession in his own name ; 

 while in others the name of the assignor is used as 

 plaintiff in the action, to the use of the assignee. 

 Courts of law generally follow the rules of equity 

 in this respect. 



Chosttn. See COREA. 



Chosroes is the Byzantine spelling of the Per- 

 sian KHOSRC or KHCSRT). Chosroes I. (531-579 

 A.D. ) was the greatest monarch of the Sassanian 

 dynasty, and was called An6shamin, 'the blessed.' 

 He carried on war with the Roman emperor for 

 twenty years, and at home promoted agriculture, 



commerce, and ncience. Chowroen II., hut grandson 

 (590-628), during fifteen yean* indicted on the 

 Byzantine empire disasterx nuch a* they had never 

 experienced ; Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and even 

 Chalcedon being conquered. See PKKKIA. 



Chota ftilgpore (Chutid Ndypur), a Houth 

 west division or comniishionendup of Bengal, 

 embracing four British di-niet-, seven pett\ 

 tributary states, and two semi independent Mate*. 

 with a surface for the most part wild and hills. 

 Area of the British districts, 26,966 Bq. m. ; pop. 

 4,628,792. Area of the division, 43,0-20 HO. in. ; 

 pop. 5,512,151, of whom more than 800,000 belong 

 to various aboriginal tribes. 



< lioiiatis. the name applied to the royalist in- 

 surgents who, during the French Revolution, organ- 

 ised a reactionary movement in Brittany. The name 

 may very probably be due to a corruption of c/tat- 

 huant ( ' screech-owl ' ), from the nocturnal habits 

 of the bands or from some special call of recognition 

 they may have had ; or it may have originated in 

 a nickname of the instigator of this insurrection, 

 one Jean Cottereau, a smuggler of noted sagacity 

 and courage. In the year 1792 they began to wage 

 a small guerilla warfare with some success, but the 

 Chouanerie, as the insurrection was called, at first 

 disgraced itself by drunken license and cruelty. 

 After Cottereau 's death in 1794 in a scuffle near the 

 wood of Misdon, the theatre of his first efforts, the 

 brave adventurer Desoteux, surnamed Cormatin, 

 took the lead ; but after his capture there arose 

 new leaders who extended the insurrection and 

 lifted its aims into the region of the heroic. 

 Georges Cadoudal and Charette soon had under 

 their command a force of 10,000 fearless men, and 

 their energy and daring actually imperilled for a 

 time the security of the republican government in 

 France. But stubborn and strong as was the old 

 unquestioning loyalty of Brittany, it could not 

 withstand the fiery enthusiasm that impelled the 

 conquering legions of the giant young republic 

 across almost the whole continent of Europe. The 

 insurrection was stamped out by La Hoche ; its 

 leaders Vienville and Serent fell, Scepeaux and 

 Cadoudal were forced to lay down their arms, 

 Frotte fled to England and Puisaye to America. 

 A new attempt in 1799 was soon mercilessly 

 crushed, and henceforward Chouanerie could only 

 smoulder on in secrecy. In 1814-15 it again made 

 its appearance on both banks of the Loire ; and 

 after the July revolution (1830) was once more 

 excited by the Duchess of Berri on behalf of the 

 Duke of Bordeaux, but crushed by the energetic 

 measures taken by Thiers. 



Choil^h (Fregtlus), a genus of birds of the 

 crow family (Corvidre). The beak is longer than 

 the head, strong, arched, and pointed. The tail is 

 slightly rounded. The common European species, 

 sometimes called the Cornish Chough, or Red- 

 legged Crow (F. gracnli(s), is a widely distributed 

 Imi very local bird, inhabiting the Alps and other 

 mountainous parts of the palsvarctic region. In 

 Cornish folklore King Arthur did not die, but was 

 changed into a chough, and it is interesting to find 

 this English belief alluded to in Don Quixote 

 (ii. 5), though here the bird is erroneously made 

 a raven. Shakespeare in King Lear (IV. vi.) con- 

 founds the chough with the Jackdaw ; and in 

 Muisummer-Nighfs Dream (III. ii. ) actually speaks 

 of ' russet-pated choughs.' The chough occurs 

 on some parts of the British sea-coasts, but 

 almost exclusively confined to situations where 

 there are high cliffs. Its long hooked claws enable 

 it to cling easily to a rough rock, but it seems 

 unwilling even to set its feet on turf. It lives in 

 societies like the rook, and feeds on insects, berries, 

 grubs, and grain. It is easily tamed, becomes very 



