von Messina. At the representation of the Eumenides of Eschylus the feeling of horror caused by the 50 members of the chorus, who were all attired to represent furies, was so fatal to women and children, that the ancient number had to be limited; afterward it usually consisted of 24 or 15. In the comic or satirical drama the chorus consisted of a satyr, a Silenus and Sylvanus, and had its songs and dances, mostly of a frivolous character. The providing for the choruses, the equipment and instruction, was in Athens an honorable though burdensome office, called choragia.-In modern music, a chorus is a composition in several parts, each of which is to be sung by a plurality of voices, while all the parts are to be combined together in one simultaneous performance. The term is also applied to the performers who sing these parts. In operas and oratorios the chorus is indispensable to afford relief to the solos, duets, trios, and the like, as well as to express the culmination of any sentiment or passion; and composers have often made use of it with the happiest effect where the orchestra or single voices would prove totally inadequate. In secular music, the "Conjuration" chorus in Rossini's "William Tell," and the "Benediction of the Poniards" in Meyerbeer's "Huguenots;" and in sacred music, the choruses in Handel's oratorios, and particularly in the "Messiah," are admirable specimens of this form of composition, and when well performed, with full orchestral accompaniments, produce the most sublime and thrilling effects of which music is capable.

CHOSE IN ACTION, in law, thing in action, is simply a right dependent on the result of an action. For example, a debt is a chose in action, seeing that it is only a liability which may be disputed; when judgment is obtained, the right is absolute. By the English law a chose in action is not assignable, although in fact it is assigned continually, the assignor remaining trustee for the assignee. This empty distinction has been abolished by the laws of New York.

CHOSROES, or KHOSRU, I., king of Persia (A. D. 531-579), surnamed by historians the Just, by those of his nation Nushirvan (noble spirit), one of the ablest and most remarkable monarchs of the East, was of the house of Sassan, and the son and successor of Cabades or Kobad. His father, whose reign was distracted by civil and religious commotions, as well as by a long war against the Byzantine empire, designated him as his successor in preference to his elder brothers, and, in order to strengthen his choice, called on the Greek emperor to adopt him. The strange proposal was accepted, and Chosroes departed for Constantinople; but a puerile disagreement caused a rupture, the return of the prince, and perhaps his eternal hatred to the Greeks. The last war of his father he terminated gloriously by a treaty of peace, in which Justinian promised to pay 10,000 lbs. of gold. Chosroes now regulated the internal · affairs of his kingdom, particularly the admin

istration of justice, suppressed with rigor the sect of the followers of Mazdac, whose communistic theories in regard to property and marriage had been a source of disturbance, and appointed 4 viziers to rule the 4 great divisions of the state, Assyria, Media, Persia, and Bactriana. He extended its limits to the Indus and Oxs, and compelled the nomadic tribes of the northern barbarians to repass the latter river. But his chief wars were those against the Romans. Viewing with concern the victories of Belisa rius, the great general of Justinian, over the Vandals in Africa, he violated the truce and invaded Syria (540), plundered its cities, ard took Antioch after a brave resistance. Belisarius, sent to defend the eastern provinces of the empire, was successful, but soon fell a victim to the intrigues of the court and was recalled, and Chosroes was again victorious. The war was con tinued for a series of years, chiefly in the districts east of the Black sea, and terminated by the peace of 562, in which the emperor bound himself to pay an annual tribute of 30,000 pieces of gold. This peace continued for 10 years; but the conquest of Yemen in southern Arabia by the lieutenants of Chosroes, who wrested it from the Abyssinians, the allies of the Byzatine empire, incited Justin, the new emperct, to collect a great army and recommence hostities. He was defeated, and the Persians plandered Syria again. Tiberius obtained a truce of 3 years; this he employed in preparing a mighty army, and in the bloody battle fought near Melitene, in Cappadocia, the old Persian monarch was completely defeated (578). He died soon after, and was succeeded by Hormisdas, or Hormouz, IV., his son. The 48 years of Nushirvan's reign formed the golden age of modern Persia, in the history and poetry of the East. Dreaded by his enemies, he was revered and beloved by his subjects, who enjoyed the fruits of his victories, and admired his justice; easily forgiving those crimes which served to confirm his throne, such as the murder of his elder brothers, and the extermination of their families and adherents. His government was firm, vigorous, and impartial; the administra tion of justice was watched most scrupulously and severely; the poor were the particular ob ject of attention; orphans were educated at the public expense; the provinces were often visited by the monarch; the ancient religion of the Magi was respected; science and literature, trade and agriculture were zealously promoted; academies and libraries were found ed, and enriched with the annals of the kingdom, as well as with translations from the Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, &c., among which the celebrated fables of Pilpay or Bidpay, expressly sent for to India, have become a literary monument even in the West. The wisdom of Nushirvan was admired by philosophers from Greece, and embassies were sent to him from Africa, India, China, and Thibet.-CHOSROES II, surnamed Parvis, grandson of the preceding, succeeded his father Hormisdas, who was de

posed in 591. Prevented from occupying the throne by the rebel Bahram, he fled to the Greek emperor Maurice, entreated his assistance, returned with an army, and defeated the usurper. In a treaty with Maurice he rewarded his aid by a large sum of money, and the surrender of the most important cities of Mesopotamia. His ally having been assassinated by Phocas (602), he took up arms against the empire with the ostensible purpose of avenging his death. A long war ensued, in which nearly all the Asiatic provinces of the Greeks were devastated and conquered, and which was not interrupted by the death of Phocas, or by the supplications for peace of Heraclius. Antioch, Cæsarea in Cappadocia, the whole of Palestine, Egypt with Alexandria, and Asia Minor, were wrested in successive campaigns from the new emperor; his capital, deprived of its supplies from Egypt, was a prey to famine, and threatened from the north by the fierce and savage Avars and other barbarians. Threatening to pass the Bosporus and besiege Constantinople, Chosroes proposed ignominious conditions of peace, which were rejected by Heraclius, and the war recommenced. The military glory, the pride and splendor of the Persian monarch had now attained their zenith. Master of western Asia, he oppressed the Christian inhabitants of the Byzantine provinces, and adorned with the spoils of the conquered his favorite residence, Dastagerd, east of the Tigris, about 60 m. from Ctesiphon, the capital. Its marvellous beauty and pomp have been extolled by visitors and poets, and even grave historians speak minutely of its paradise (or park), containing pheasants, peacocks, ostriches, roebucks, and wild goats; of its lions and tigers, destined for the pleasures of the chase; of the 960 elephants, 20,000 camels, 6,000 mules and horses, kept for the service of the camp and to carry the royal tents; of the 6,000 guards that watched before the gates; of the 12,000 slaves and 3,000 women subjected to his caprices or passions; of the precious met als, gems, silks, aromatics, in a hundred subterranean vaults of the palace; of its 30,000 hangings, 40,000 columns, and its cupola with 1,000 globes of gold imitating the motions of the planets and the constellations of the zodiac. While wondering at his own power and glory, Chosroes was summoned in a letter from Mecca to acknowledge Mohammed the prophet of Allah. He tore the letter and rejected the proposal; upon which Mohammed is said to have exclaimed: "Thus will God tear his kingdom and reject his supplications." The first part of this prophecy was soon fulfilled by the victories of Heraclius, who in a series of brilliant campaigns (622-627) reconquered all the lost provinces of the empire, repeatedly defeated Chosroes, advanced to the Tigris, and finally won the great battle of Nineveh; after which the pusillanimous but proud and obstinate monarch fled with his favorite wife Sira, the Shirin of Persian poetry, and escaped the hands of his enemy only to be murdered at the command of his son

Siroes, after having witnessed the massacre of his numerous sons, and suffered the horrors of a dungeon (628). Chosroes II. was the last mighty king of the house of Sassan; his son enjoyed the fruits of his unnatural deed only for 8 months; and, after a few years of civil wars and disasters, Persia was conquered by the Arabs.

CHOTEK, FRANZ XAVIER, one of the most renowned teachers of music in Vienna, born at Liebisch in Moravia, Oct. 22, 1800, is the author of over 100 musical compositions. His best known work is his "Musical Anthology." CHOUANS, a name given to the royalist peasantry of Brittany and Lower Maine, who, following the example of the Vendeans, rose in arms against the revolutionary government as early as 1791, and who often, under the pretence of waging war in the king's behalf, infested the roads, pillaged villages, and committed all sorts of depredations. The name was ultimately extended to all the insurgents in western France. The rebellion in Lower Maine had been prepared by a number of contraband salt makers, among whom 4 brothers, named Cottereau, were conspicuous. The taciturnity of their grandfather had given him the nickname of Chat-huant (screech-owl), or Chouan according to the Bas Breton dialect. This nickname had been transmitted to the grandsons, who were usually called the "brothers Chouan." Jean, the eldest and boldest of the 4, had once been sentenced to death, and having, through the entreaties of his mother, obtained his pardon from Louis XVI., had become a fervent royalist. The earliest companions of Jean Cottereau were a lame beggar surnamed Jambe d'Argent (Silver Leg), Tristan l'Hermite, Taillefer, Coquereau, and a few others. Their first encampment was established in an excavation in the woods of Misdon; and they began to appear in villages where revolutionary opinions prevailed, against detachments of troops and national guards. The Chouannerie, as these warlike bands were soon called, was not limited to a single province; from Lower Maine it extended through Brittany, where it gained a strong foothold, and thence eventually to Normandy. The Chouans received powerful accessions from the ranks of the peasants, driven to rebellion by heavy taxes, by persecution of their religion, or by fear of being enrolled in the army. The first serious outbreak in Brittany (Feb. 13, 1791) was occasioned by the attempted removal of the bishop of Vannes, who had refused to take the civil oath; the peasants of Sarzeau came forward to protect him, but were fired upon by troops of the line and national guards. Thenceforward Brittany was divided into 2 camps, the adherents and the opponents of the government. The military organization of the Chouans was gradually perfected, and they soon numbered no less than 100,000 volunteers, who were subsequently distributed into 5 distinct corps; but for the sake of efficiency, they generally moved in

bands of 25, 50, and sometimes 100 men, acting independently, but according to a common direction. In 1793, under the name of the Little Vendée, the Chouans joined the great royalist army. On this occasion, it was proposed to invest one of the royalist generals with the command of the Chouans, but the reply was: "We have come with Jean Chouan, we know no one but him; we obey him through friendship; he must be our leader; if not, we will depart." Consequently Cottereau reassumed the command of his forces, which he kept until July 28, 1794, when he was killed in an encounter with republican troops. Tactics and regular evolutions were not in accordance with the instincts and habits of these partisan bands. Consequently, after the heavy loss experienced by the royalist army near Le Mans, and especially after their bloody defeat at Savenay, Dec. 27, 1794, the Chouans returned to their haunts, and resumed their guerrilla warfare. Detach ments of troops overtaken or slaughtered, stage coaches arrested on the highway, receivers of public money carried off and tortured, depredations, pillage and assassination, such were their regular occupations. Terror spread over the country, their deeds being greatly exaggerated by common report, while many acts of bravery and magnanimity were overlooked. Their chiefs were powerless to prevent excesses. On the death of Cottereau, Jambe d'Argent had become one of their leaders; but the most popular was Georges Cadoudal, who had then taken up his abode in Lower Brittany, and waged unrelenting war against the republican troops. Some attempted to bring about a pacification by a treaty concluded at La Mabilais; but this was disdainfully rejected by Cadoudal, Frotté, and other influential Chouans. Even the great disaster of Quiberon, July 16, 1795, was unable to shake their power. The loss had indeed fallen on the émigrés and the English, while the royalist peasantry had suffered little. They not only kept in arms, but their chiefs tried to reenforce their organization and to bring about rebellion in several other provinces of France. Their efforts were in some measure successful, and would have been completely so if any prince of the Bourbon family had dared to land in Brittany, and put himself at the head of the movement. The count of Artois cruised indeed off the coast of France for a few days in Aug. 1795, and this alone was sufficient to give a new impulse to royalist ardor; but the disappointment caused by his sudden departure crushed the hopes of the most fervent. Some chiefs and several bands still persisted, but the great army of the Chouans dwindled away, disgusted at serving princes by whom they were sacrificed. The most obstinate joined the émigrés in several conspiracies. Cadoudal was arrested in 1804, and the Chouannerie may be said to have died with him.

CHOUGH (coracia gracula, Linn.), a bird of the crow family, sometimes called Cornish daw, and red-legged crow. It is a native of

Europe, and is most numerous on the bold rocky shores of Cornwall, Devonshire, Wales, and the Hebrides islands; on the continent it prefers the Alpine regions. The plumage of the adult male and female is black, glossed with purplish blue and green; the legs, feet, and buil are red; the claws black, strong, and hooked; the bill is longer than the head, arched and tapering to an acute point; the wings are about the saine length as the tail, which is even, with a small tip; on the head and neck the plumage is blended, and highly glossy. The length to the end of the tail is 17 inches; extent of wings 34 inches; tail 6 inches; bill 2 inches; tarsus 2 inches; the weight is about 14 oz The female is somewhat less in size, and has a shorter bill. When seen at a distance, the chough resembles the rook, which it excels in elegance of form; near at hand, the red bl and feet readily distinguish it. It is gregarious like the rook and jackdaw, both of which it resembles in its note and mode of flying. Its food consists of insects, grubs, seeds, and the flesh of dead animals; it is particularly fond of grasshoppers and cockchafers, for which it searches fields and rocky places, walking like the rook. It is very shy, unless in the breeding season; its flight is high, irregular, and performed by slow motions. It breeds near the sea in rocks, caverns, and ruined towers; the nest is composed of sticks, and lined with wool and hair; the eggs are generally 5 in number, of a dull white color, with light brown and ashcolored spots, chiefly at the larger end. In confinement the chough becomes very tame and docile; it is very crafty, hiding its food, and frequently articles of value which it has stolen, and as the bird always selects elevated positions, it is often difficult to recover them. It eats little at a time, and regurgitates its food like ruminating quadrupeds; even when full fed, it will try to throw up a portion of its meal in order to take a little more. It is capable of very strong attachments and dislikes.

CHOULES, JOHN OVERTON, D.D., a clergyman of the Baptist denomination, born in Bristol, Eng., Feb. 5, 1801, died in New York, Jan. 5, 1856. His parents were members of the Wesleyan connection. After completing his school education, he became in 1822 a divinity student in the Baptist college at Bristol. He had been received as a member of the Broadmead Baptist church in Sept. 1819. Having completed his theological course, he left England for America in 1824. The first winter after his arrival in New York was spent in supplying various churches in that city and vicinity. In the spring of 1825 he became principal of an academy at Red Hook, N. Y., a post which he retained about 2 years. In Sept. 1827, he was ordained as pastor of the 2d Baptist church in Newport, R. I. After a successful pastorate of about 6 years, he resigned his charge in Newport, to accept the call of the 1st Baptist church in New Bedford, Mass. In 1837 he assumed the pastoral care of the Washington street church,

Buffalo, where he remained 4 years. In 1841 he became pastor of the 6th street Baptist church, New York, and in 1843 of the Baptist church in Jamaica Plain, near Boston. In the latter part of the year 1847, Dr. Choules was induced to resume the pastoral care of the 2d church in Newport. He was the author of 2 volumes of travels, entitled respectively, "Young Americans Abroad," and "The Cruise of the North Star." Beside these volumes, he completed the Rev. Thomas Smith's "History of Missions," which was issued in 2 vols. 4to. in 1832; wrote a continuation of Hinton's "History of the United States," to the administration of President Taylor; edited an edition of Neal's "History of the Puritans;" also an edition of Forster's "Statesmen of the Commonwealth in England," James's "Church Members' Guide," and various other works.

CHOUS, or CHŒUS, a measure of liquids among the ancient Greeks, corresponding to the Roman congius, and containing about 6 pints English. It is probable that the same name was also given to a smaller measure containing nearly 2 pints English. It was, as is supposed, originally the usual name for a drinking cup.

CHOUTEAU, AUGUSTE AND PIERRE, two brothers, founders of the city of St. Louis, originally of New Orleans, who joined the expedition of Pierre Ligueste Laclède, which left that city in August, 1763, under a commission of the director-general of Louisiana, to establish the fur trade in the region west of the Mississippi river, and bordering on the Missouri and its tributaries. Auguste, the elder, was intrusted by Laclede with the command of the boat. They reached the settlement of St. Genevieve in Novenber, being just 3 months ascending the river from New Orleans. In the winter they selected a point 61 m. above St. Genevieve, on the western bank of the Mississippi, for their principal post, and named this St. Louis. Auguste Chouteau was in charge of the party that commenced operations here, Feb. 15, 1764. Speaking of the brothers in his "Sketch of the Early History of St. Louis," Nicollet observes: "These 2 young men, who never afterward quitted the country of their adoption, became in time the heads of numerous families, enjoy ing the highest respectability, the comforts of an honorably acquired affluence, the fruit of their own industry, and possessed of a name which to this day (1842), after a lapse of 70 years, is still a passport that commands safety and hospitality among all the Indian nations of the United States, north and west." Both were prominent men, and officers ranking as colonels in the early history of St. Louis. The elder brother died in 1829. Pierre was an honored guest at the anniversary celebration of the settlement of St. Louis in 1847, at the age of 89, and died 2 years afterward in that city.-PIERRE CHOUTEAU, jr., son of the last-named, born in 1789, has been during the present century a leading merchant in the fur trade in St. Louis,

a principal member, or the head, of most of the successive companies formed for conducting this business. In 1834, with his associates, Messrs. B. Pratte and Cabanne, he purchased the interests of Mr. John Jacob Astor, which controlled the so-called American fur company; and in 1839 the organization was formed which still continues under the name of P. Chouteau, jr., and co. This house has since nearly monopolized the entire fur trade of the west and northwest in the territories of the United States east of the Rocky mountains. Mr. Chouteau has for some years resided in New York at the head of the branch of his house established in that city; and has contributed liberally by his wealth and influence to forward several of the great enterprises connected with the development of the resources of the country.

CHOWAN, a N. E. co. of N. C., bordering on Albemarle sound, bounded W. by Chowan river; area about 240 sq. m.; pop. in 1850, 6,721, of whom 3,673 were slaves. It was one of the original precincts of the lords proprietors under King Charles II., and was occupied by a tribe of Indians called Chowanokes, from whom its name is derived. The surface is slightly uneven, and the soil generally of good quality. The productions in 1850 were 295,227 bushels of corn, 88,135 of sweet potatoes, and 129 bales of cotton. Capital, Edenton.

CHRISM, in the Roman and Greek churches, ointment consecrated by the bishops, and used in the administration of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and extreme unction. There are two sorts of chrism used in the Roman church: one made of oil and balsam, which is used in baptism, confirmation, and in conferring orders; the other is composed only of oil, and is used in extreme unction. These are always blessed by the bishop on Maunday Thursday, and each priest is required to obtain a fresh supply, and burn the old oils. In the Greek church, beside the oil and the balsam, it is usual to employ 35 kinds of spices. The Maronites formerly used balsam, inusk, conelle, incense, roses, and other substances.

CHRIST (Gr. Xploros, anointed), a title applied in the New Testament to Jesus, and derived from the ancient practice of consecration by anointing to the regal, prophetic, and sacerdotal offices. The practice is still preserved in the consecration of kings. The apostles designate Jesus by this official title much more frequently than by his historical name. The reverse is the practice of the evangelists. (See JESUS CHRIST.)

CHRIST, PICTURES OF. Among the early Christians, the aversion to the fine arts, as practised by pagan nations, was so great, that no pictorial representation of Jesus Christ was ventured upon, except symbolically through the signs of the lamb, the vine, and fish; the Greek term for fish, xous, constituting the initial letters of the following Greek sentence, significative of Christ's mission: Inσovs Xpiσtos eov 'Yios Ewrnp; thus establishing a mono