n
660, and of all France in 670; assassinated 673. C. III., son of the
preceding, last of the Merovingian kings, from 743 to 752; was deposed by
Pepin le Bref; died in the monastery of St. Omer in 755.

CHILDERMAS, a festival to commemorate the massacre of the children
by Herod.

CHILDERS, ROBERT C., professor of Pali and Buddhistic Literature in
University College, and author of Pali Dictionary (1809-1876).

CHILDREN OF THE WOOD, two children, a boy and girl, left to the care
of an uncle, who hired two ruffians to murder them, that he might inherit
their wealth; one of the ruffians relented, killed his companion, and
left the children in a wood, who were found dead in the morning, a
redbreast having covered their bodies with strawberry leaves; the uncle
was thereafter goaded to death by the furies.

CHILE (2,867), the most advanced and stable of the S. American
States, occupies a strip of country, 100 m. broad, between the Andes and
the Pacific Ocean, and stretching from Cape Horn northward 2200 m. to
Peru, with Argentine and Bolivia on its eastern borders. The climate is
naturally various. In the N. are rainless tracts of mountains rich in
copper, manganese, silver, and other metals, and deserts with wonderful
deposits of nitrate. In the S. are stretches of pastoral land and virgin
forest, with excessive rains, and cold, raw climate. The central portion
enjoys a temperate climate with moderate rainfall, and produces excellent
wheat, grapes, and fruits of all kinds. The Andes tower above the
snow-line, Aconcagua reaching 23,500 ft. The rivers are short and rapid,
of little use for navigation. The coast-line is even in the N., but
excessively rugged and broken in the S., the most southerly regions being
weird and desolate. The people are descendants of Spaniards, mingled with
Araucanian Indians; but there is a large European element in all the
coast towns. Mining and agriculture are the chief industries;
manufactures of various kinds are fostered with foreign capital. The
chief trade is with Britain: exports nitre, wheat, copper, and iodine;
imports, textiles, machinery, sugar, and cattle. Santiago (250) is the
capital; Valparaiso (150) and Iquique the principal ports. The government
is republican; Roman Catholicism the State religion; education is fairly
well fostered; there is a university at Santiago. The country was first
visited by Magellan in 1520. In 1540 Pedro Valdivia entered it from Peru
and founde