house and market-hall of recent erection. It manufactures lace and woollen goods, and iron and brass wares. Popu
lation in 1871, 2400.CHARDIN, Sir John (1643-1713), a celebrated traveller, was born at Paris in 1643. His father, a wealthy jeweller, gave him an excellent education and trained him in his own art ; but instead of settling down in the ordinary routine of the craft, he set out in company with a Lyons merchant named Kaisin in 1665 for Persia and India, partly on business and partly to gratify his own inclination. After a highly successful journey, during which he had received the patronage of Shah Abbas II. of Persia, he returned to France in 1670, and there published in the following year Rccit du Couronnement da Roi de Perse Soliman III. Finding, however, that his Protestant profession cut him off from all hope of honours or advance ment in his native country, he set out again for Persia in August 1671. This second journey was much more adventurous than the first, as instead of going directly to his destination, he passed by Smyrna, Constantinople, the Crimea, Caucasia, Mingrelia, and Georgia, and did not reach Ispahan till June 1673. After four years spent in researches throughout Persia, he again visited India, and returned to Europe by the Cape of Good Hope in 1677. The persecution going on in France led him, in 1681, to settle in London, where he was appointed jeweller to the Court, and received from Charles II. the honour of knight hood. In 1683 he was sent to Holland as representative of the English East India Company; and in 1686 he published the first part of his great narrative The Travels of Sir John Chardin into Persia and the East Indies, &c. (London). It was not till 1711, however, that the com plete account of his travels appeared, under the title of Journal du Voyage du Chevalier Chardin, at Amsterdam. The Persian portion is to be found in vol. ii. of Harris s Collection, and extracts are reprinted by Piukerton in vol. ix. The best complete reprint is by Langles, Paris, 1811. Sir John Chardiu s narrative has received the highest praise from the most competent authorities for its fulness, comprehensiveness, and fidelity ; and it furnished Montes quieu, Rousseau, Gibbon, and Helvetius with most import ant material. Sir John died in London in 1713 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument bears the inscription Nomen sibi fecit eundo.
CHARENTE, an inland department in the south-west of France, comprehending the ancient division of Angou- inois, and inconsiderable portions of Saintonge, Poitou, and Limousin. It is bounded N. by the departments of Deux-Sevres and Haute-Vienne, E. by those of Vienne and Dordogne, and S. and W. by Dordogne and Charente-Inf^rieure. The greater part of its area of 2295 square miles consists of the valley of the River Charente, which rises in Haute-Vienne, and after a circuitous course passes into the department of Charente-Infe"rieure, where it falls into the sea opposite Isle-Madame, having received in its progress the waters of the Tardoire, Touvres, Ne", Antoine, and Boutonne. The Charente, though rapid, has been artificially rendered navigable, and steamers ply between Angouleme and Saintes, although the tide ascends no higher than the latter town. The surface of the depart ment is comparatively level, and subject to frequent inunda tions; and in the arrondissement of Confolens alone there are upwards of sixty small lakes. The hills, which belong to the Limousin range, are generally uniform in height, and abound in marine deposits ; some of them are covered with chestnut forests, which supply the district with a large amount of fruit. The climate is temperate, and the pre vailing winds are the west and south-west. The principal productions are wine, corn, hemp, flax, and potatoes, the wine being largely distilled into brandy, for which tho town of Cognac is famous. Pigs, sheep, and poultry are extensively reared for the consumption of the capital ; and the value of the truffles annually brought to market is estimated at several million francs. The mineral produc tions consist chiefly of iron, lead, antimony, and gypsum, of which iron and gypsum only are worked to any extent. Among the manufactures paper occupies the foremost place ; but canvas, linen cloth, hats, cordage, hoops, and pottery are also made. Charente is divided into five arrondisse- ments, which derive their names from the five principal towns of Angouleme, Cognac, Ruffec, Barbe zieux, and Confolens. Angouleme is the chief town. The popula tion in 1872 amounted to 367,520.
CHARENTE-INFERIEURE, or Lower Charente, a maritime department of France, comprehending the old pro vinces of Saintonge and Aunis, and including the islands of Re", Olo ron, Aix, and Madame. It has an area of 2636 square miles, and is bounded N. by Vendee and Deux-Sevres, E. by Charente, S. by Gironde, and W. by the Bay of Biscay. The surface is exceedingly flat throughout the whole department, and along the coast-line it is so far de pressed as to require in many places the erection of sea-dikes and extensive artificial draining. The facilities of the de partment for internal communication are greatly increased by the number of navigable streams, the formation of two canals (from La Rochelle to the Sevre-Niortaise, and from Brouage to Rochefort), and the development of an extensive railway system in the hands of a company known as the Company of the Charentes. The productions very nearly coincide with those of Charente, with this difference that its wines and brandy are greatly inferior, but its fruits and vegetables greatly superior to those of the upper province. It has also more extensive pasturage, and considerable revenue accruing from the pilchard and oyster fisheries on the coast, but its mineral wealth and manufactures are neither so various nor so productive. The former is confined to iron pyrites and the salt supplied by the marshes along the coast; the latter includes coarse woollen stuffs, leather, soap, earthenware, staves, timber, and chemicals. It has several sheltered bays on the coast, and several good harbours, such as Rochefort, Tonnay-Charente, Royan, and Marans, at which a brisk coasting trade is carried on. There is considerable trade in colonial produce, and ship building is prosecuted to some extent. The climate is salubrious except along the coast, where fevers and ague prevail. There are six arrondissements, cognominal with the towns of La Rochelle, Rochefort, Marennes, Saintes, Jonzac, and St Jean d Angely, La Rochelle being the chief town of the department. The total population in 1872 was 465,653.
department of Seine, situated on the right bank of the Maine, near its confluence with the Seine, a short distance south-east of Paris, of which it may almost be regarded as a suburb. It derives the distinctive part of its name from the stone bridge of ten arches which crosses the Marne and unites the town with the village of Alfort, famous for its veterinary school. It has always been regarded as a point of great importance for the defence of the capital, and has frequently been the scene of sanguinary conflicts. Of its fortifications the most important is the Fort de Charenton, which lies on the left bank of the river near Alfort. In the 16th and 17th centuries Charenton was the scene of the ecclesiastical councils of the Protestant party, which had its principal church in the town. At present its most remarkable institution is the lunatic asylum, or Maison de Sant6, which was originally founded by Le Blanc in 1664 as a general hospital, and only received its present appropriation by a decree of the tenth year of the
Republic. In 1814 the bridge was gallantly defended by