CH A 



217 



CH A 



all charters, and other official writings 

 that require to be solemnly authenti- 

 cated. Hence this officer became the 

 keeper of the great seal and keeper of 

 the king's conscience. The lord high chan- 

 cellor of Great Britain is at present the 

 highest officer of the crown. He is privy 

 counsellor by his office, prolocutor of the 

 house of lords by prescription, and judge 

 of the court of Chancery. From the Ro- 

 man empire, the office of chancellor passed 

 to the church, and hence every bishop 

 has his chancellor ; and there are chancel- 

 lors of cathedrals who hear lessons, lec- 

 ture in the church, hear causes, apply the 

 seals, &c. The universities have also 

 their chancellors, who seal diplomas or 

 letters of degree, &c. The chancellors of 

 military orders are officers who seal the 

 commissions and mandates of the chapters 

 and assembly of the knights, and deliver 

 their acts under the seal of their order. 



CHAN'CELLOR or THE EXCHE'QUEE, an 

 officer who presides in that court, and 

 takes care of the interests of the crown. 

 He has power with the lord treasurer to 

 lease the crown lands, and with others to 

 compound for forfeitures OB penal sta- 

 tutes. He is the British finance minister. 



CHAN'CERY, the highest court of justice 

 in Great Britain, next to Parliament, 

 consisting of two distinct tribunals : one 

 ordinary, being a court of common law, 

 the other extraordinary, beisg a court of 

 equity. 



CHANDELIE'R (French). 1. A frame with 

 branches to hold a number of candles to 



illuminate a large room. 2. In fortifi- 



cation, a moveable parapet serving to 

 support fascines to cover pioneers. 



CHAN'NEL, a part in the Ionic order of 

 architecture, somewhat hollow under the 

 abacus, after the listel ; it lies upon the 

 echinus, having its coulters or turning 

 upoa each, to make the volutes. 



CRANKS, CHANK'SHELLS, common conch 

 shells, chiefly fished up by divers in the 

 Gulf of Manar, on the coast opposite Jaflf- 

 napatam, in Ceylon. They are of a spiral 

 form, and constitute a considerable article 

 of trade in India, where they are sawn 

 into narrow rings, and worn as orna- 

 ments for the arms, legs, and fingers, by 

 the Hindu women. 



CUAN'TER. 1. The pipe which sounds 



the tenor or treble in a bagpipe. 2. The 



chief singer or priest of the chantry. 



CUAN'THT, Vr. chanirerie A chapel en- 

 dowed for the maintenance of one or 

 more priests, daily tc say or sing mass 

 for the soul of the endower, or such as he 

 appoints. 



CHAP'EAU (French). In heraldry, a cap. 



CHAP'EL. 1. A house for public wor- 

 ship, of which there are several kinds, as 

 parochiat chapels, distinct from the mother 

 uurch; chapelt of east', built in large 



parishes for the accommodation of the 

 inhabitants ; free chapels, founded by 

 wealthy individuals ; domestic chapels, 

 built by noblemen for the accommodation 

 of their families. The name took its 

 origin thus : the kings of France, through 

 superstitious notions, carried in times of 

 wt.. St. Martin's hat into the field, where 

 it was kept in a tent as a precious relic. 

 This tent took the name capella, a little 

 hat, and the priest who had the charge 

 of it was called capellamis, now chaplain, 

 and hence the word chapel came to signify 



any private oratory. 2. A printer's 



work-room, said to be so called from 

 printing being first carried on in a chapel. 



CHAP'ELET, ] Fr. chapelet. A pair of 



CHAP'LET, ) stirrup leathers, with stir- 

 rups made fast to the pommel of the sad- 

 dle by a sort of leather buckle, after they 

 have been adjusted to the length and 

 bearing of the rider. 



CHAP'ELUNG, turning a ship round in a 

 light breeze, when close hauled, so that 

 she shall lay the same way as before. 



CHAP'ERON (French), a cap worn by the 

 knights of the garter in their habits. It 

 was anciently worn by men, women, 

 nobles, and populace; afterwards appro- 

 priated to doctors and licentiates in col 

 leges. The name then passed to cer- 

 tain devices placed on the foreheads of 

 horses which draw the hearse in pompous 

 funerals. 



CHAP'ITER. 1. In architecture, a difter- 



ent word for capital. 2. The charge of 



a justice to an inquest. 



CHAP'LAIN. See CHAPEL. 



CHAP'LET, Fr. chapelet. Among Catho- 

 lics, a chaplet is a string of beads, by 

 which they count the number of their 

 prayers, usually called a paternoster : 

 hence the word is taken by architects to 

 denote any ornamental fillet in the form 

 of a string of beads. 



CHAP'TER, Fr. chapitre, Lat. caput. 1. A 



division of a book or treatise. 2. A 



community of clergymen belonging to a 



cathedral or collegiate church. 3. A 



place where delinquents receive discipline 

 and correction. 4. A decretal epistle. 



CHAPTER-HOUSE, Lat. capitulum. The 

 apartment of a cathedral in which the 

 heads of the church transact business. 



CHAR'ACTER, a mark or abbreviation 

 used in certain arts and sciences: thus 

 there are the numeral characters, 1, 2, 3, 

 &c., used to express numbers ; algebraical 

 characters used to represent abstract quan- 

 tity : these are usually the letters of the 

 alphabet, with certain other symbols and 

 signs to denote the operations of addition 

 and subtraction, with their abbrevia- 

 tions, multiplication, and division. These 

 characters of operation are + for addi- 

 tion, for subtraction, X for multipli 

 cation, and -j- for division. There u* 



