761 



CHART. 



CHARTE. 



762 



out chance of confusion by adding a cypher to the above figures, 

 retaining the same gradations of colour and carrying us on to 

 1000 feet. 



It will be seen from the above, that coasting vessels will have to 

 regard principally the pale yellow and uncoloured soundings, while 

 larger ships would only have in most cases to regard the pale carmine, 

 except when anchorage became the question, when the ordinary figures 

 indicating soundings would be available as at present. Nothing that 

 could simplify navigation should hi these days be rejected. 



Nor is it unimportant that fishermen upon our coasts, seeing (at a 

 glance on such charts) the holes and deeps and conformations at the 

 bottom of the sea, and knowing traditionally the habits of their prey, 

 might thus be directed to more successful captures. 



By attention to this colouring of charts some curious geological 

 deductions would doubtless result. As an example : The writer's first 

 impression on seeing a chart of the entrance to the Thames thus 

 coloured by him for his amusement, was, that at a distant period the 

 " River Thames " lay entirely northward of a line which may be drawn 

 from the Long Sand Head to the " Shivering Sand," thence to the 

 " East Cant," thence to the " Cant," and thence to " Garrison Point," 

 .Sheerness. That the space between this said line and another drawn 

 from near the Long Sand Head on the eastward of the present Long 

 Sand, and trending southward, passing to the eastward of the Margate 

 Sand, and joining the mainland eastward of the Reculvers, formerly 

 mcloted dry land, constituting an extensive promontory of Kent. It would 

 thus seem probable that the " Prince's " and " Queen's " channels are 

 of comparatively recent formation, originating in the denudation of the 

 oft strata of the tertiary from what is now the Margate Sand, and the 

 large area of the " Flats " off VVhitstable ; thus forming a new eastern 

 entrance to the Thames by the " West Girdler," and in process of time 

 washing the coast-line into its present form. This work is even at the 

 present day prof/reusing ; ami fen-, baring a knowledge of this fact, and 

 being aware . >f the nature of the tertiary formation, would on inspecting 

 a chart carefully nlimrrd a to minuting*, doubt the general accuracy of 

 the above. 



As a further instance, we may even take the case of the Goodwin 

 . on the east coast of Kent. On seeing a coloured chart hereof, 

 geological intimations and inferences are very striking. What do we 

 find ? An easy curve in the soundings, originating about two miles off 

 the South Foreland, trending first towards the north-east, then northerly, 

 and afterwards with an easy bend towards the north-west, marks the 

 general line of the outer edge of the Goodwin, and lying, at its greatest 

 distance, about 7 miles from (say) Deal, inclosing a space gradually 

 shallowing towards the North Foreland, and embracing within its 

 limits such inequalities of surface known as the " Brake " sand, and 

 sundry " knolls " as one would suppose the action of the sea upon 

 strata of such varied compactness and density as the " tertiary " would 

 cause. On the outer edge of the Goodwin range, especially in the part 

 exposed to the full action of the flood-tide from the English Channel, 

 :ts accelerated by the narrowness of the Straits of Dover, we find as 

 much as 30 or 40 fathoms of water. The return action of the ebb-tide 

 xeems, in its influence upon the North Goodwin Head, to have met 

 with resistance from the chalk foundation on which the Goodwin Sands 

 :ire known to rest. It is extremely probable, therefore, that chalk 

 would be found at the " Goodwin knoll " a rrry fen: feet from the sur- 

 face. Now, who will say that the "curve," as intimated in the 

 coloured chart and alluded to as passing the outer Goodwin and 

 returning easily towards the North Foreland, was not once the general 

 coast-line of East Kent ? Tradition tells us of the territories of Earl 

 Goodwin in tho time of Harold II., as it will some day point to a shoal 

 on which " stood " the present Sandown Castle. History even points 

 vaguely to the destruction and submersion, or " overwhelming," of the 

 lands of Earl Goodwin. [KENT, in GEOG. Div.] The same destruction 

 is at the present day assailing Sandown Castle ; it was only built iu the 

 reign of Henry VIII., but has already yielded its moat and outworks to 

 its powerful assailant. One might, on seeing a coloured chart of the 

 district, even go further, and declare that the flood-tide from the 

 British Channel, gathering force as it sweeps the French coast past 

 Cape Grisnez, strikes in a direct line towards the inside of the Good- 

 win or through the present Downs in such a manner as to account for 

 the Complete denudation of the strata along the east coast of Kent ; 

 rmd if any further proof of this abrasion be wanting, the dtbri has 

 evidently been deposited along the coast opposite the North Foreland, 

 forming the well-known plateau around it of from 6 to 7 miles dia- 

 meter, and on which at most is found about 50 feet of water. The 

 subject in interesting as important, especially as it requires some 

 wen considerations as the above to account for the vast results of a 

 once moving water-power which once formed the chalk " cliffs " of 

 Albion in their now scarcely perceptibly changing aspect. The com- 

 parative shallowness of the sea off the North Foreland is otherwise an 

 obstacle to other attempts at elucidation ; for it seems reasonable to 

 smppone that the former action of deep water, and the then unchecked 

 ruh of flood-tide from Cape Grisnez, could alone have produced such 

 stupendous results. 



If anything can further justify a recommendation to colour charts 

 of the coast, it may be the following, as indicating its tendency 

 towards a creation of new ideas on certain subjects : Sandown Castle 

 (above referred to), has been within the memory of living men, 



gradually and visibly suffering from the encroachment of the sea ; 

 while the celebrated Richborough Castle, only about five miles from it, 

 and which in the time of the Romans (say 1800 years ago), was 

 washed by the sea, now stands two full miles inland. 



Antiquaries have sought all means whereby to reconcile this 

 anomaly. But may we not again revert to the circumstance of the 

 south-east coast of Kent, having been at one time so great an obstacle 

 to the course of the channel flood-tide, as to have been graduallv 

 " scooped away " by the waters, until probably the sea reached the 

 chalk barrier of the Isle of Thanet, which now ends at Pegwell Bay. 

 On its approaching this limit, there being perhaps in those days much 

 less room for the passage of the flood-tide inside the present Goodwin, 

 the force of the tide into this " bight " or excavation, or narrow 

 channel, would have considerably raised the level of high water above 

 the adjacent shore, and have overflowed the marsh-land even to Rich- 

 borough, forming at the same epoch the stream which insulated 

 Thanet. History, in vague and dark traditions, acquaints us, how- 

 ever, that some 800 years after, a mighty storm or irruption of the sea 

 overwhelmed the lands of Earl Goodwin (as already noticed). Now it 

 is curious to consider the probability of this irruption having been 

 nothing less than the bursting of some barrier of sand or strata, which 

 by admitting the flood-tide in its less obstructed flow, drained the land 

 at Richborough Castle, and reduced the " Wantsume," which insulated 

 Thanet (and which from having in very early times been three or four 

 miles wide, had in the year 700 gradually decreased to about half n 

 mile), to the mere ditch of the present day. 



We have an instance of this raising of the tide level, in the daily 

 action of the sea in the Solent, and the _causes which give to South- 

 ampton tmee hiyhwater in the same tide. 



Such considerations may at first appear to be out of place under 

 our word " chart," but knowledge springs from unexpected sources. 

 An apple, a frog's leg, thoughts on a " pebble," each in its way has 

 proved a lamp to the learned. A mere taper may enlighten Truth's 

 magazine, and by its means we may pluck the rich and varied fruits of 

 investigation, even from the dust of the air, from a ray of light, 

 why not from a tinge of colour in a wash of " carmine," or a streak of 

 "sepia," or a stroke of" neutral tint ?" 



The particular species of charts most used at sea will be explained 

 under the head MERCATOR'S PROJECTION. See also MAP, and STEREO- 

 GRAPHIC, ORTHOGRAPHIC, GNOMONIC, and CONICAL PROJECTIONS, under 

 which last head will be given Flamsteed's and the modern French 

 projections. 



CHARTE, from charta, " paper," though in its generic sense em- 

 bracing every kind of legal instrument, has been restricted by modern 

 usage, and signifies any ancient title-deed ; but the name was given to 

 the letters of franchise granted by the kings of France during the 

 middle ages to several towns and communities, by which they were 

 put in possession of certain municipal rights or privileges, such as the 

 free election of their local magistrates, &c., a custom, according to 

 Hallam (' Europe during the Middle Ages," vol. i.), dating from the 

 time of Louu VI., and becoming of almost universal application in 

 France by the end of the 13th century. At present the word charte 

 is used in France to signify the solemn acknowledgment made by 

 Louis XVIII. on his restoration in 1814 of the rights of the nation, 

 which was the fundamental law of the French constitutional monarchy, 

 in principle somewhat resembling that of the English constitution as 

 founded on Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights. By it the legislative 

 power was vested in two chambers, peers and deputies, subject to the 

 king's sanction. The former being composed of peers nominated by 

 the crown, and holding either life or hereditary peerages as the crown 

 might please ; the latter comprising deputies whose age was to be at 

 least 40, paying 1000 francs to the direct taxes, and nominated by 

 electors of at least 30 years of age paying 300 francs to the direct 

 taxes. All laws were to be promulgated by the king, the executive 

 power being vested solely in him, who was to appoint to all the offices 

 of the administration, both civil and military, and to have the com- 

 mand of all the military and naval forces. He also was to appoint the 

 judicial officers, who, however, when once appointed were irremovable 

 by him. The king was to make all treaties of peace, alliance, or com- 

 merce. His person was to be inviolable ; but the ministers were to be 

 responsible. One article of the Charte, having given occasion to a 

 false interpretation, of which the ministers of Charles X. availed them- 

 selves to issue the famous ordonuances which gave rise to the revolution 

 of July, 1830, was altered on the accession of Louis Philippe, and it was 

 clearly explained that " the king issues the necessary ordonuances and 

 regulations for the execution of the laws, without having the power in 

 any case to suspend the course of the law or to delay its execution." 

 The Charte, with this and one or two more modifications of minor 

 importance, was sworn to by Louis Philippe on the 9th of August, 

 1830. Subsequently, a change was made by the legislature in the 

 constitution of the Chamber of Peers, the peers being for life, and the 

 peerage not being hereditary in their families. 



The Charte consists of sixty-nine articles, and is inserted in the 

 Almanac Royal et National ; the principles of it are given in Alison's 

 ' History of Europe, from the Fall of Napoleon,' vol. iv. 



The system of law introduced by this charter remained in full force 

 until the revolution of 1848, by which the government of Louis 

 Philippe was overthrown and the republic instituted. On the acts of 



