Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/413

Rh the pupils of the veterinary school against the Austrians and Wiirtembergers. Population in 1872, 7i41.  CHARIOT, in antiquity, was a conveyance used in battle, for the chase, in public processions, and in games. It had two wheels, and was made to be drawn by two horses ; if a third or, more commonly, two reserve horses were added, they were attached on each side of the main pair by a single trace fastened to the front of the chariot, as tnay be seen on two prize vases in the British Museum from the Panathenaic games at Athens, on which quadrigae are represented. On the monuments there is no other sign of traces, from the want of which wheeling round must have been difficult. Immediately on the axle, without springs of any kind, rested the basket or body of the chariot, which consisted of a floor to stand on, and a semicircular guard round the front about half the height of the driver. It was entirely open at the back, so that the combatant might readily leap to the ground and up again as was necessary. There was no seat, and generally only room for the combatant and his charioteer to stand in. The pole was probably attached to the middle of the axle, though it appears to spring from the front of the basket ; at the end of the pole was the yoke, which consisted of two small saddles fitting the necks of the horses, and fastened by broad bands round the chest. Besides this the harness of each horse consisted of a bridle and a pair of reins, mostly the same as in use now, made of leather and ornamented with studs of ivory or metal. The reins were passed through rings attached to the collar bands or yoke, and were long enough to be tied round the waist of the charioteer in case of his having to defend himself. The wheels and body of the chariot were usually of wood, strengthened in places with bronze or iron ; the wheels had from four to eight spokes and tires of bronze or iron. This description applies generally to the chariots of all the nations of antiquity ; the differences consisted chiefly in the mountings. The chariots of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with whom the bow was the principal arm of attack, were richly mounted with quivers full of arrows, while those of the Greeks, whose characteristic weapon was the spear, were plain except as regards mere decoration. Among the Persians, again, and more remarkably among the ancient Britons, there was a class of chariot having the wheels mounted with sharp sickle-shaped blades, which cut to pieces whatever came in their way. This was probably an invention of the I ersians ; Cyrus the younger employed these chariots in large numbers. Among the Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, the chariot had passed out of use in war before historical times, and was retained only for races in the public games, or for processions, without undergoing any alteration apparently, its form continuing to correspond with the descriptions of Homer, though it was lighter in build, having to carry only the charioteer. On two Panathenaic prize vases in the British Museum are figures of racing bigce, in which, contrary to the description given above, the driver is seated with his feet resting on a board hanging down in front close to the legs of his horses. The biga itself consists of a seat resting on the axle, with a rail at each side to protect the driver from the wheels. The chariot was un suited to the uneven soil of Greece and Italy, and it is not improbable that these nations had brought it with them as part of their original habits from their former seats in the East. In the remains of Egyptian and Assyrian art there are numerous representations of chariots, from which it may be seen with what richness they were sometimes ornamented. The &quot; iron &quot; chariots in use among the Jews appear to have been chariots strengthened or plated with metal, and no doubt were of the form above described, which prevailed genarally among the other ancient nations.  CHARITIES. There are few features of English society more remarkable than the strength of its charitable organization. It is not merely that the voluntary contribu tions of individuals to the purposes usually described as charitable are on the largest scale, but that endowments in aid of every variety of public use abound in all parts of the country. These endowments are mostly of private founda tion, and but for comparatively recent legislation, would be almost entirely beyond the cognizance or control of the state. So far, indeed, as real property is concerned, tie state has for various reasons discouraged its application to such purposes. During the feudal period of English law, the rights of the lords of the soil were continually being invaded by the alienation of land to ecclesiastical corpora tions. These societies had perpetual succession, whereby the rights of the superior incidental to the tenancy of individuals were destroyed. It was to prevent such aliena tions that the Mortmain Acts were passed. The statute De Religiosis, 7 Edward J. st. 2, c. 1, and the statute of Westminster 2d enacted fiat if any body politic, ecclesiasti cal or lay, sole or aggregate, should buy or sell lands or by any engine 01 traft appropriate lands in such a way that they should in anywise come into mortmain, the lord of the fee might enter within a year of the alienation, and in default o the mesne lord, the land should go to the king. The 15 Ric. II. c. 5 extended this statute to all lauds, &c., purchased to the use of guilds and fraternities, &c. When testamentary power over freehold lands was established in the reign of Henry YIIL, bodies politic and corporate were expressly excepted from the benefit of the statute. Aliena tions in mortmain, as they were called, were not absolutely void, but voidable only at the option of the intermediate lords or the king, and the licence of the lords and the king confirmed the alienation. A devise of realty to a corpora tion was ineffectual, and the land descended to the heir, either for his own use or charged with the trust imposed on it by the intended devise. The preamble to the im portant statute 43 Eliz. c. 4 gives us an idea of the number and variety of the public objects on which testators and other donors were in the habit of expending their wealth : &quot;Whereas .land, tenements, rents, annuities, profits, heredita ments, goods, chattels, money, and stocks of money have been heretofore given, limited, appointed, and assigned, as well by the Queen and her progenitors as by sundry other well-disposed persons ; some for relief of aged, impotent, and poor people ; some for maintenance of sick and maimed soldiers and mariners, schools for learning, for schools and scholars in universities ; some for repair of bridges, ports, havens, causeways, churches, sea-banks, and highways ; some for education and preferment of orphans ; some for or towards relief, stock, or maintenance of houses of correction ; some for marriages of poor maids ; some for supportation, aid, and help for young tradesmen, handicraftsmen, and persons decayed ; and others for relief or redemption of prisoners or captives, and for aid or ease of any poor inhabitants, concerning payments of fifteens, setting out of soldiers, and other taxes, which lands, tenements, &amp;lt;tc., have not been employed according to the charitable intent of the givers and founders thereof, by reason of frauds, breaches of trust, &c.&quot; The statute gives the Lord Chancellor power to appoint commissioners to inquire into such cases. A charity under the statute has been defined to be a gift to a general public use, which extends to the rich as well as to the poor. By a series of judicial inter pretations, the power of devising lands to corporations for charitable uses was established, and the subject of the Mortmain Acts was to a certain extent frustrated. The Act 9 Geo. II. c. 36 takes notice of the public mischief caused by alienations or dispositions made by languishing or dying persons to uses called charitable uses, 