Charter Oath or Five Articles Oath Oath issued in 1868 by Japan’s Meiji emperor. One article, important in spurring the creation of a new leg¬ islative body, promised that assemblies would be widely established and that all matters would be “decided by public discussion.” Two articles promised an end to feudal class restrictions and “evil customs of the past,” and another stated that all classes should work together to “carry out the plan of government.” Lastly, it was declared that “knowledge shall be sought throughout the world to promote the welfare of the empire.” The Charter Oath set the progressive tone of the Meiji period. See also Meiji Restoration.
Charter of 1814 or Charte Constitutionnelle \ , shart- l ko n -ste-tiE- syo-'nel\ French constitution issued by Louis XVIII after he became king (see Bourbon Restoration). The charter, which was revised in 1830 and remained in effect until 1848, preserved many liberties won by the French Revolution. It established a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral par¬ liament, guaranteed civil liberties, proclaimed religious toleration, and acknowledged Catholicism as the state religion.
chartered company Type of corporation that evolved in the 16th century in Europe. Under a charter granted by the state’s sovereign author¬ ity, the company had certain rights and obligations which usually gave it a trading monopoly in a specific geographic area or for a specific type of trade item. In the 17th century, chartered companies were encouraged by the English, French, and Dutch governments to assist trade and encour¬ age overseas exploration. Those companies that formed for trade with the Indies (see English East India Company; Dutch East India Company; French East India Company) and the New World (see Hudson's Bay Company) had the most wide-reaching influence. Some chartered companies were also involved in the settlement of colonists (see London Company; Plymouth Company). Eventually the development of the modem limited-liability com¬ pany or corporation led to a decline in the importance of chartered com¬ panies.
Chartism British working-class movement for parliamentary reform. It was named after the People’s Charter, a bill drafted by William Lovett (1800-1877) in 1838 that demanded universal manhood suffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, annually elected Parliaments, payment of members of Parliament, and abolition of property qualifications for
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Chartres ► Chatham Strait I 379
membership. Born amid an economic depression, the movement rose to national importance under the leadership of Feargus O'Connor. Parlia¬ ment refused to take action on three Chartist petitions presented to it, and the movement declined after 1848.
Chartres Yshart, 'shartrA City (pop., 1999: 40,361), northwestern France. Situated on the Eure River southwest of Paris, it was the capital and centre of Druidic worship for the Carnutes, a Celtic tribe. The Normans attacked and burned the city in 858. In the Middle Ages it was held by the counts of Blois and Champagne. The city was sold to France in 1286 and was occupied by the English from 1417 to 1432. Henry IV was crowned there in 1594. The Germans held it in 1870, and it was severely damaged in World War - II. Landmarks include the Gothic Chartres Cathedral.
Chartres Cathedral VshartrA Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, one of the most influential examples of High Gothic architecture. The main part of this great cathedral was built between 1194 and 1220. It replaced a 12th-century church of which only the crypt, the base of the towers, and the western facade remain. Abandonment of the tradi¬ tional tribune galleries and the use of a unique type of flying buttress allowed for a larger clerestory.
Remarkable stained-glass windows and a Renaissance choir screen add to its beauty.
Chase, Salmon P(ortland) (b.
Jan. 13, 1808, Cornish Township,
N.H., U.S.—d. May 7, 1873, New York, N.Y.) U.S. antislavery leader and sixth chief justice of the U.S.
(1864-73). He practiced law in Cin¬ cinnati from 1830, defending runaway slaves and white abolitionists. He led the Liberty Party in Ohio from 1841 and helped found the Free Soil Party (1848) and the Republican Party (1854). He served in the U.S. Sen¬ ate (1849-55, 1860-61) and was the first Republican governor of Ohio (1855-59). He served as secretary of the treasury under Pres. Abraham Lincoln (1861-64). Appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Lincoln, he presided over the impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson and tried to protect the rights of blacks from infringe¬ ment by state action.
Chase, Samuel (b. April 17, 1741, Princess Anne, Md.—d. June 19, 1811, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. He was a member of the Maryland assembly (1764-84). An ardent patriot, he helped lead the Sons of Liberty in violent resistance against the Stamp Act. He served on the state Com¬ mittee of Correspondence (1774), was elected to the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. When Alexander Hamilton exposed his attempt to comer the flour market (1778), Chase retired from Congress, only to return in 1784. He served as chief judge of the Mary¬ land General Court from 1791 to 1796, when Pres. George Washington appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States. Chase upheld the primacy of U.S. treaties over state statutes in Ware v. Hylton. In Calder v. Bull (1798) he contributed to the definition of due process. At the insti¬ gation of Pres. Thomas Jefferson, Chase was impeached for partisan con¬ duct in 1804. His acquittal established the principle that federal judges can be removed only for indictable criminal acts, thus strengthening the independence of the judiciary. Chase served until 1811.
Chase, William Merritt (b. Nov. 1, 1849, Williamsburg, Ind., U.S.—d. Oct. 25, 1916, New York, N.Y) U.S. painter and teacher. He studied in New York and for six years in Munich. Chase became the most important U.S. art teacher of his generation, first at New York’s Art Stu¬ dents League and later at his own school, founded in 1896. His teachings, particularly his advocacy of fresh colour and bravura technique, greatly influenced the course of early 20th-century U.S. painting; among his stu¬ dents were Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Demuth. As a painter, he was very prolific; his 2,000 paintings include portraits, interiors (e.g., In the Stu¬ dio, 1880-83), figure studies, still lifes, and landscapes characterized by bold, spontaneous brushwork.
Chase Manhattan Corp. Former U.S. holding company incorporated in 1969 with the Chase Manhattan Bank as its main subsidiary. The bank
The cathedral at Chartres, Fr.
EVERETT C. JOHNSON-DEWYS INC.
itself was created in 1955 by the merger of the Bank of Manhattan Co. (founded 1799) and the Chase National Bank (founded 1877). The cre¬ ation of Chase Manhattan was part of a general movement in U.S. bank¬ ing to establish holding companies that could bring together banks and financial institutions ordinarily excluded by law from the field of bank¬ ing. In 1996 it merged with Chemical Banking Corp. (which then owned the nation’s second largest bank) but kept the Chase Manhattan name. A merger with investment bank J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000 created J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. See also David Rockefeller.
chat Real-time conversation among computer users in a networked envi¬ ronment such as the Internet. After a user types a text message and presses the Enter key, the text immediately appears on the other users’ comput¬ ers, permitting typed conversations that are often only somewhat slower than normal conversation. A chat can be private (between two users) or public (where other users can see the messages and participate if they wish). Public chatting is conducted in “chat rooms,” Web sites devoted to chat, usually about a specific topic. The thousands of chat rooms now available typically use the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol, developed in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen of Finland. See also bulletin-board system.