CHIN A. 



331 



Rrfcrwe Sounds of the Chinese Language, a work which is con- 

 ii('> red as prt-M r.tmg the most accurate and intelligible 



" ^/~-"' view of the subject, that has ever appeared in Europe ; 

 Ihw-Liott-tcfiuan, or Pleasing History, translated by Dr 

 Percv ; Monson's Horae Simcce, or Translations from the 

 jiopular Literature of the Chinese; Sonnerat's Voyage to 

 India ; Paw's Recherches Philosnphiqvcs stir la -&J^p- 

 tiei!t et les C/unois, who, together with the preceding 

 wnter. ia decidedly hostile to the boasted excellencies of 

 the Chinrse; Sir George Staunton's Translation of the 

 2'a tsing leu lee, or Penal Code of China, and Preface 



Chippcn 

 ham. 



C H I 



Otiiococca CHIOCOCCA, a genus of plantsof the class Pentan- 

 II dria, and order Monogyma. See BOTANV, p. 150. 



CHIONANTHUS, a genus of plants of the class 

 Diandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANV, p. 85. 



CHIOS. See Scio. 



CHIPPENHAM, a town of England in Wiltshire, 

 is delightfully situated on the river Avon, which is cross- 

 ed by a handsome freestone bridge of twenty-one arches, 

 decorated with balustrades and lamp?. The principal 

 street is about half a mile long, and the houses are in gene- 

 ral neat and well built. The church is a venerable Go- 

 thic edifice, supposed to have been built by the Hun- 

 gerford family ; but the market-house is a mean build- 

 ing, unworthy of such a town. The manufacture of su- 

 perfine woollen cloth, of the very best quality, is carried 

 on here, to a considerable extent, and is in such a flourish- 

 ing state, that the interior classes, to whom it gives em- 



bi/ the. Translator; Weston's Translation of the Conquest Reference 

 of the Miuo-tse, a poem by the Chinese Emperor Kien- to author- 

 long ; Van Braawi's Embassy to China ; Barrow's Life of *" *"Y" 

 Lord Macartney. And especially Sir George Staunton's 

 Account of China ; Barrow's Account of Lord Macart- 

 ney's Embassy to China ; and De Guigne's Voyage a 

 Pckin, which are by far the most intelligent and judi- 

 cious productions on the state of the Chinese empire, 

 and character of the Chinese people, and the last ot 

 which particularly contains a vast variety of useful and 

 curious intelligence on the subject, (q) 



C HI 



ployment, can scarcely procure dwelling-houses for their 

 families. 



According to the recent population returns in 1811, 

 the borough and parish, including the tythings of Ailing- 

 ton, Nethereton, Stanley, and Tytherton-Lucas, contained 



Inhabited houses 663 



Families 857 



Families employed in agriculture .... 145 

 Ditto employed in trade and manufactures 652 



Males 1580 



Females 1830 



Total population 3410 



See Britton's Beauties of Wiltshire, Maton's Tour, 

 and the History of the Boroughs. (*) 



CHIRK AUEDUCT. See INLAND NAVIGATION. 

 CH1RONIA, a genus of plants of the class Pentan- 

 dria, and order Monogyma. See BOTANV, p. 139. 



Chipper.- 

 ham 



II 

 Chironia. 



CHIVALRY. 



Ciiivalry. * HERE is scarcely any subject of antiquarian research 

 >*-y- so free from the reproach of uninteresting and unprofita- 

 ble labour, as that which relates to the origin, the cau- 

 ses, the institutions, and the effects of chivalry. Some of 

 our earliest and most pleasing associations are connected 

 with tales of romance ; and even after our judgment is 

 disposed to reject them as rude and extravagant, the sub- 

 jects which the most admired poets, of almost every na- 

 tion, have chosen, lead us back to our former pleasures ; 

 and strengthen the hold they have on our imagina- 

 tions, by cutting on their side the approbation of a re- 

 fincc! and cultivated taste. Nor are the antiquarian re- 

 searches, which have chivalry for their object, less in- 

 ing and instructive to the philosopher. If he wish 

 to inform himself of the opinions, the manners, and the 

 purjnits of nations, at different periods of their progress 

 from barbarism and ignorance, to civilization and know- 

 ledge ; if he wish to analyse, and to account for, those 

 grrat and leading points of character, which distinguish 

 modern from ancient manners, he must go back to the 

 age of chivalry- Courtesy of manners, trie point of ho- 

 nour, a more jealous and habitual attachment to truth 

 than obtained among the nations 'uf antiquity, and a re- 

 fined, respectful, and delicate gallantry, may be traced 

 from the period when chivalry first dawned, to the pre- 

 sent times. 



Whoever is equally conversant with the early history 

 of Greece and Rome, and with the history of those bar- 

 barians, who overran and conquered the empire of the 

 latt'-r. must be struck with -the different manners that 

 distinguished them; and if he trace these manners during 

 the more advanced state of the anc'vnt world, when every 

 thing vise indicated refinement and civilization, he will 



still detect the same want of courtesy, the same inatten- chivalry. 

 tion and disregard to the rights and comforts of the fe- ,- 

 male sex, and the same indifference about personal honour, 

 which existed in the ruder state of their society ; while, 

 on the other hand, among the barbarians, far behind 

 the inhabitants of Greece and Rome in every other re- 

 spect, he will discover those traits of character, on which 

 the most polished modern nations particularly pride them- 

 selves. 



Chivalry, therefore, characterised as it has justly been 

 by an elegant writer, as consisting " in a passion for 

 arms; in a spirit of enterprise; in the honour of knight- 

 hood ; in rewards uf valour ; in splendour of equipages ; 

 in romantic ideas of justice ; in a passion for adventures; 

 in an eagerness to run to the succour of the distressed ; 

 in a pride in redressing wrongs and removing grievances ; 

 in the courtesy, affability, and gallantry, for which those 

 who attached themselves to it were distinguished ; and 

 in that character of religion, which was deeply imprint- 

 ed on the minds of all knights, and was essential to their 

 institution ;" as it constitutes one of the most remark- 

 able features in the history of the ancestors of almost, 

 all European nations ; as its effects on our opinions, ha- 

 bits, and manners, may still be traced ; and as it is inter- 

 woven with our earliest associations, and with the highest 

 charms of poetry of which modern times can boast de- 

 mands and deserves a full and patient investigation of its 

 origin, causes, and institutions. 



More difficulties arise in tracing and fixing the period 

 of the origin of chivalry, than would at first be supposed. 

 An institution so singular and striking, which stood 

 forth amidst ignorance, rudeness, and barbarism, distin- 

 guished for its refinement and elegance ; and which forms 



