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CHOATE

394 CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MOVEMENT

1899 ne was appointed ambassador to the court of Great Britain, and was succeeded in 1905 by the Hon. Whitelaw Reid.

Choate, Rufus, an American lawyer, was born at Essex, Mass., Oct. i, 1799. He graduated at Dartmouth College, and commenced t o practice law in 1823. He served as reprsentative and senator in Congress, but his greatest success was at the law. He became the foremost lawyer of New England,, and undoubtedly was the first pleader of his day. His speeches and a d d r e s s es show great oratorical power. He died July 13, 1859.

Chocolate. See COCOA. Choctaws (chok'taz), a widely-spread tribe of Indians, living on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. They lived more by rude farming than by hunting. They are a raw-boned, alert but treacherous people. The French gave them the name of Flatheads, from their practice of flattening the heads of their children with bags of sand. De So to fought a bloody battle with them in 1540. In the wars between the French and English settlers they sided with the French; though one of their great chiefs, Red Shoes, became the friend of the English. Some 500 families moved west of the Mississippi in 1803, and the remainder were offered citizenship by the Georgians; but they preferred to trade their lands for others west of the Arkansas in Indian Territory. They were governed by a written constitution, elected a chief every four years and had a national council of 40 members and trial by jury. Under this government they advanced fast, and in 1861 numbered, with the Chickasaws, who lived with them, 25,000, and owned 5,000 slaves. In the Civil War they took sides with the south and suffered great losses. Schools and missions have been established among them for a long time. In 1900 there were 10,321 Choctaws in the territory.

Chopin (shd-panf), Frederic Francois, a Polish pianist and composer, was born March i, 1809. His waltzes, mazurkas and other compositions are peculiar in melody, rhythm and harmony, and have a great charm. He was one of the first pianists, and his playing like his music, had a captivating grace. He spent most ef his life in Paris, where he died Oct. 17, 1849.

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RUFUS CHOATE

Christian IX (born in 1818), was crowned King of Denmark in 1863. At his accession he was misunderstood and coldly received by the people, but by his simple manners and democratic bearing he won their respect and esteem. In 1864 Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg, about one third of Denmark, were taken from him by Germany. This loss of territory was offset in part by a gain in prestige through his family alliances. One of his daughters became czarina of Russia, another queen of England, one son king of Greece and another king of Norway. He died Jan. 29, 1906, and was succeeded by his eldest son who ascended the throne Jan. 30, 1906, with the title of Frederick VIII. He died of apoplexy in the streets of Hamburg, May 14, 1912. Crown Prince Christian who took the title of Christian X, succeeded him.

Christian Endeavor Movement, The. This movement originated with the formation of a small society of 50 members in the Williston Church of Portland, Maine, under the direction and with the inspiration of the pastor, Dr. Francis E. Clark, on the evening of February 2, 1881. In February, 1906, after 15 years of life, the movement showed 66,000 societies, with 4,000,000 members, found not only in the United States, but in Canada and Great Britain, in many countries of Europe, in India, China and Japan, in Australia and in Africa. The different societies are independent, united only by a community of principle and plan. There is, however, a corporation, bearing the title of United Society of Christian Endeavor, of which Dr. Clark is chairman. This society collects and distributes the funds that may be sent to it, and seeks to promote in every way the movement. Most of the societies have a constitution that declares the purpose to be "to promote an earnest Christian life among its members, to promote their mutual acquaintance and to make them more useful servants of God." There are active members and associate members. The former bind themselves to attend every meeting of the society to which they belong, unless prevented by absolute necessity, and to take some part, however slight, in every meeting. They are to read the Bible daily and to assist the pastor in the work of the church as he shall direct. The society is interdenominational. A special

CHRISTIAN   IX