5978 



PARISH COUNCIL 



Paris, Louis PHILIPPE ALBERT, 

 COMTE DE (1838-94). French 

 prince. The elder son of Ferdinand, 

 dukeof Orleans, 

 who was the 

 eldest son of 

 Louis Philippe, 

 he was born 

 Aug. 24, 1838. 

 His father died 

 when he was 

 four years old ; 

 consequently 



lie was the king's heir until the 

 latter was deposed in 1848. The 

 prince, known always as the count 

 of Paris, lived with his mother in 

 Germany and England, and saw 

 something of the American Civil 

 War. In 1871 he was allowed 

 to return to France, and remained 

 there until 1886, when he and his 

 family were again exiled. He died 

 Sept. 8, 1894, leaving two sons, 

 known as the dukes of Orleans and 

 Montpensier. He wrote a History 

 of the American Civil War, 8 vols., 

 1874-75. See Bourbon ; Orleans. 



Paris, MATTHEW (c. 1200-59). 

 English historian. Educated and 

 ordained priest at St. Albans, 1217, 

 he assisted and eventually suc- 

 ceeded Roger de Wendover in com- 

 piling the chronicles of England 

 kept by the abbey. In 1248 he was 

 sent on ecclesiastical business to 

 Norway, but returned the next 

 year, and continued his chronicle 

 of English history, carrying it down 

 to 1259, the year of his death. 

 Paris was an original, learned, and 

 accurate historian. His principal 

 work is the Chronica Majora, the 

 MS. of which is in the library of 

 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. 

 An English trans, appeared in 

 Bonn's Library, 1847. See Cradle. 



Paris, DECLARATION OF. Term 

 applied to four articles for the regu- 

 lation of maritime warfare, drawn up 

 and agreed to by the plenipoten- 

 tiaries of the powers who concluded 

 in Paris in 1856 the treaty of peace 

 after the Crimean War. The four 

 articles are : ( 1 ) privateering is and 

 remains abolished ; (2) the neutral 

 flag covers enemy goods, with the 

 exception of contraband of war ; 

 (3) neutral goods, with the excep- 

 tion of contraband of war, are not 

 liable to capture under the enemy 

 flag ; (4) blockades to be binding 

 must be effective, i.e. the blockad- 

 ing force must be able to prevent 

 virtually all ingress to and egress 

 from the enemy coast. The govern- 

 ment of the U.S.A. was asked to 

 subscribe, but refused. Spain and 

 Venezuela also refused to subscribe. 

 During the war between the U.S.A 

 and Spain, however, both nations 

 agreed to conduct their maritime 



warfare in accordance with the 

 principles of the Declaration. See 

 Blockade. 



Paris, TREATIES OF. Various 

 international treaties signed in 

 Paris. The following are the most 

 important. (1) Treaty signed Feb. 

 10. 1763, by Britain, France, and 

 Spain at the close of the Seven 

 Years' War. By its terms France 

 surrendered to Britain all the 

 American possessions except Lou- 

 isiana, but retained fishing rights off 

 Newfoundland. In the West Indies 

 Guadaloupe, Martinique, and St. 

 Lucia were restored to her, while 

 Britain retained Tobago, Dominica, 

 St. Vincent, and Grenada. In Africa 

 France recovered Goree and gave 

 up Senegal. In India her trading 

 stations were restored to her, on 

 condition that they should not be 

 garrisoned. Spain recovered the 

 Philippines and Havanna, but 

 gave up Florida to Britain. (See 

 Hubertusburg, Treaty G.) 



(2) Treaty concluded May 30, 



1814, by the Allies and France after 

 the abdication of Napoleon I. By 

 its terms France reverted generally 

 to the frontier of 1790, but ob- 

 tained some acquisitions, such as 

 pieces of territory round Mons and 

 Philippeville and a portion of 

 Savoy. All her colonies were re- 

 stored to her with the exception of 

 Mauritius, which was ceded to 

 Britain, and one or two other 

 places. Britain also gained Malta. 



(3) Treaty concluded between 

 the Allies and France, Nov. 20, 



1815, after the final overthrow of 

 Napoleon I. By its terms France 

 was deprived of the acquisitions 

 she had gained by the treaty of 

 1814, and was required to pay an 

 indemnity of 28,000,000. 



(4) Treaty signed March 30, 

 1856, by France, Great Britain, 

 Sardinia, Turkey, and Russia, at 

 the close of the Crimean War. By 

 its terms the Moldavian frontier 

 was rectified, Russia was deprived 

 of all control of the mouths of the 

 Danube, while in the Black Sea 

 merchant ships were to be allowed 

 complete freedom of entrance, and 

 the maintenance of naval forces by 

 Russia and Turkey was limited. 



Paris Basin. Term applied by 

 geologists and geographers to de- 

 signate the general dip of the rocks 

 downwards towards Paris from 

 the edges of a roughly circular area 

 which extends from the Ardennes 

 to the Auvergne, and the Vosges 

 to the Brittany Highlands. It 

 embraces most of the Seine valley 

 and part of that of the Loire. 

 Mainly lowland, very little of it 

 extending beyond 1,200 ft., it is 

 marked by a succession of scarps 

 which curve with a centre near 

 Paris. From the scarp top the land 



slopes gently towards the centre, 

 and steeply on the distant side. 

 Each scarp marks the face of a 

 type of resistant rock, usually 

 limestone, but sandstone in the 

 Argonne, overlying softer clays or 

 marls, which can be detected at 

 the base of the scarp. 



Parish (Gr. paroikia, neigh- 

 bourhood, from para, near; oikos, 

 house). District committed to the 

 care of one parson or minister 

 having permanent cure of souls, 

 known as the incumbent. The 

 origin of the division of the 

 country into parishes has been 

 much disputed, some writers giv- 

 ing it an ecclesiastical ancestry, 

 while others assert that the ec- 

 clesiastical parish system was 

 based upon an earlier division for 

 civil purposes. Parishes appear to 

 have become general about the 9th 

 or 10th century, possibly as the re- 

 sult of'mission work radiating from 

 the principal or bishop's church. 



For civil purposes the parish is 

 the smallest area, so far as local 

 government is concerned. Its 

 organization varies according as it 

 is a rural or an urban parish. Most 

 rural parishes have a parish coun- 

 cil, its place in others being taken 

 by the parish meeting. Urban 

 parishes have no council save that 

 of the urban district. The parish 

 nowadays is an ecclesiastical dis- 

 trict, and as such holds an annual 

 meeting, mainly for church pur- 

 poses, known as the vestry ; and 

 also a civil court for purposes of 

 relieving the poor. For the latter 

 purpose a number of parishes are 

 united into a union. 



In Scotland the parish, in addi- 

 tion to caring for its own poor, 

 maintains a parish school, but the 

 ratepayers do not meet in vestry. 

 See Ecclesiastical Law ; Local 

 Government. 



Parish Council. Council ap- 

 pointed under the Local Govern- 

 ment Act of 1894. Every rural 

 parish in England and Wales which 

 has a population of over 300 has a 

 parish council, while those with less 

 than 300 inhabitants have one if 

 the parishioners so desire, or two 

 or more may be united under one 

 council. These councils consist of 

 a number of members varying 

 from 5 to 15, are elected by the 

 parish meeting held in March, and 

 hold office for three years. Women 

 are eligible for membership. 



There are no parish coun- 

 cils in Ireland, but all Scottish 

 parishes, whether urban, rural, or 

 mixed, have them. These consist of 

 a number of members varying from 

 5 to 31, and they look after the re- 

 lief of the poor, the registration of 

 births, marriages, and deaths, and 

 vaccination 



