(MARIE JOSEPH DE) was the son of Louis Chenier, well known as the author of Recherches Historiques sur les Maures, and Revolutions de l'Empire Othoman. He was born in 1764, at Constantinople, where his father at that time acted as Consul General from France. At a very early period of life he entered into the French army, but he soon relinquished the military profession, and settled at Paris, where he devoted much of his time to literary pursuits. He commenced his dramatic career by a tragedy, which was acted in 1786, and was completely unsuccessful. A few years afterwards, availing himself of the political feelings of the period, he produced the tragedy of Charles IX., which was received with vast applause by the party which predominated at the time. This was followed by La Mort de Calas, and the republican tragedies of Gracchus and Timoleon. These dramas, in a great measure, owed their popularity to existing circumstances, and the author's talent of addressing himself to the prevailing feelings of the multitude. His performances, however, were instrumental in procuring him a seat in the National Convention, and obtained him the highest theatrical reputation, till he unfortunately brought forward a tragedy founded on the accession of Cyrus to the throne of the Medes, a subject which, as it gave less scope to political allusion than his former productions, and had been previously treated with greater ability by other writers, failed more completely even than the piece with which he first laid claim to the favour of the public. After this failure Chenier appears to have distrusted his dramatic genius, and chiefly employed himself in translating or imitating the most celebrated productions of the Greek and German stage.

Chenier, however, did not confine himself to dramatic compositions, but cultivated almost every species of poetry with tolerable success. His productions are chiefly satirical, lyric, and political. Being engaged in a variety of literary as well as political quarrels, and being naturally of a haughty irritable temper, he was naturally led to employ his talents for poetry and satire on all who had provoked his enmity. His works of this description, accordingly, are often misapplied, but are distinguished by considerable gaiety and energy of composition. His lyric productions, of which he published a collection in 1797, consist partly of odes imitated from the Poems of Ossian. Most of his other poems, as his Poeme sur l'Assemblee des Notables and Dithyrambe sur l'Assemblee Nationale, allude entirely, as their name imports, to the political events of the day. Chemier also distinguished himself as a prose writer by his productions in the *Mercure de France*, and the discourses which he prepared for the different academies of which he was a member, which chiefly turn on subjects connected with the progress of knowledge in Europe, and the literary history of his own country. In consequence of a task assigned by Bonaparte to the Institute, of which Chemier was a member, he undertook to give a historical and critical account of the most celebrated productions, both in prose and verse, which had enriched French literature from the year 1788 to 1803. This sketch was originally read at one of the sittings of the Institute, and was afterwards published under the title *Tableau Historique de l'état et des progrès de la Littérature Française depuis 1789*. This work comprehends a notice of all the best works which had appeared during that period, from the light class of romances to the most important treatises on morals, politics, and legislation; and in poetry it embraces a review from the highest epic to burlesque and mock heroic.

Many of the orations and discourses pronounced by Chemier in the different political assemblies which were formed during the existence of the French republic, and of almost all which he was a member, related to similar topics—proposals for legislative measures with regard to literary works—the encouragement of arts and systems of public instruction. Those orations, which were truly political, breathed all the violent spirit of the time and of the assemblies in which they were delivered. As he took an active part in the distracted politics of his country, and was engaged, on one side or other, in most of the revolutions by which she was at that time agitated, his character was frequently the object of the blackest calumnies, his property of confiscation, and his person of proscription. All this was little favourable to literary improvement. But, when France at length settled under the absolute dominion of one ruler, by being precluded from political intrigue and discussion, he had ample leisure left for study and composition. He continued thus usefully employed, in a state of comparative tranquillity, till his death, which happened at Paris, on the 10th January 1811.

The character and writings of Chenier partook strongly of the spirit of the times in which he lived. The former was marked by turbulence, restlessness, and ambition; and although some of his poems, as well as his more recent prose compositions, show that his taste was not naturally that of the school of the French Revolution, yet many of his tragedies and literary discourses are disfigured by that exaggeration of sentiments and ideas, as well as that declamatory and inflated style, which the tone and feelings of the period had introduced or propagated. (M.)

**CHESHIRE** is divided from Lancashire by the rivers Mersey and Tame; from Derbyshire and Staffordshire by the rivers Goyt and Dane, and a range of hills; and in a great measure from Flintshire and Denbighshire by the river Dee and its estuary, a small portion of the hundred of Broxton lying to the west of this general boundary. The form of this county is singular, being distinguished by two points, projecting, the one into the Irish Sea, between the Mersey and the Dee, which constitutes the hundred of Wirral; and the other running up towards Yorkshire, between Lancashire and Derbyshire, forming the extremity of the Macclesfield hundred. If these points were cut off, the figure of Cheshire would approach nearly to that of an oval. The greatest extent breadth of this county, from north to south, is about 30 miles; its greatest length, from the extremity of the hundred of Wirral, at Kidlington Green, to Britland Edge, on the borders of Yorkshire, is 58 miles; across the middle part of the county, however, the length is not 40 miles. The projection between the Dee and Mersey is about 20 miles long and 6 broad; and that towards Yorkshire about 15 miles long, and seldom above 3 miles broad.

Cheshire contains one city, which is also the county town, Chester; seven hundreds; thirteen market towns, including Chester; namely Stockport, Knutsford, Altringham, Congleton, Frodsham, Macclesfield, Malpas, Middlewich, Nantwich, Neston, Northwich, Sandbach, and Tarporley; and eighty-six parishes. As, however, many of these parishes are of great extent, and comprise numerous townships, and more than one chapelry having the privilege of baptism and sepulture, the number of parishes and places assessed to the poor's-rates, and other county and parochial rates, amounts, according to the last returns, to 491. This county is in the province of Canterbury, and diocese of Chester; within this diocese are comprehended Cheshire, Lancashire, and part of Yorkshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. It is a county palatine, and is not included in any of the circuits, having a chief-justice of its own.

The area of Cheshire comprises about 1200 square surface miles, or 676,600 acres, of which a much larger proportion is in cultivation than in most other English counties; there being only 28,600 acres of waste land, commons, and woods; 18,000 in peat bogs and mosses; and 10,000 in sea sands, between the estuaries of the Dee and Mersey; the remainder, 620,000 acres, is in cultivation. The general character of the surface is flatness; the principal hills are on the borders of Derbyshire, which are connected with those of that county and Staffordshire; and stretch along the eastern side of the parishes of Astbury, Prestbury, and Mottram, about 25 miles. Near Frodsham, there is a bold promontory, overlooking the Mersey, which is the first of an interrupted ridge of hills that crosses the county from north to south, on its western side, as far as Malpas; this high ground, after crossing the elevated district of Delamere forest, appears again in the insulated rock of Beeston, which is nearly 386 feet in height. The last link on this chain of hills are those of Broxton. The ground near Macclesfield is also elevated. With these exceptions, and that of a low chain of hills stretching from north to south through the hundred of Wirral, Cheshire is more uniformly flat than any other county in this part of England.

There is not much variety of soil; sand and clay, with one or the other predominating in various proportions, constitute the soil of nearly the whole of Cheshire; that part of the county which stretches towards Yorkshire consists principally of peat moss; a soil which also prevails to a less considerable extent near Coppenhall and Warmincham, and in some parts of the forest of Delamere; the greater part of the forest, however, consists of sterile white sand or gravel. The most prevalent subsoils are marl, clay, and redgrit rock, or sandstone.

Cheshire, viewed from a height, appears covered with wood; but this appearance arises from the smallness of the enclosures, and the great number of large trees in the hedge-rows; otherwise it is not a well-wooded county. Its forests, which formerly were extensive, consisted of those of Delamere, Macclesfield, and Wirral; the first contained 10,000 acres, 2000 of which have been enclosed. The quantity of timber in the hedge-rows and coppices exceeds the general average of the kingdom; the best as well as the most common is oak. In Dunham Park, near Altringham, the seat of the Earl of Warrington, there are some remarkably large old oaks. Alderley Park is equally celebrated for its beech trees.

The principal rivers are the Dee, the Weaver, the Dane, and the Tame; the Mersey, though frequently described as a Cheshire river, seems to us more properly to belong to Lancashire. The Dee, which rises in Wales, enters this county near Aldford; from Bangor Bridge it is navigable for barges; at Chester Bridge it meets the tide; at Chester a ledge of rocks runs across the bed of the river; from this place to the sea, its natural course forms a broad sandy estuary; but an artificial channel has been formed at great expense, on the south side of the river, nearly half way to the sea, which is navigable for ships of 600 tons burden. It falls into the Irish Sea, about fourteen miles north-west of Chester. At the time when the artificial channel was made, much land was gained from the tide by embankments, and much has been subsequently recovered. The Weaver rises in Cheshire on Bulkley Heath, and flows entirely through the county, till it joins the Mersey at Wyton; from Frodsham Bridge to Winsford Bridge, a distance of 20 miles, it is rendered navigable by means of locks and weirs; the fall is 45 feet 10 inches, and there are 10 locks; the course of this river is about 33 miles. The Dane rises in Macclesfield forest; during the first part of its course, it divides Staffordshire and Cheshire; at Congleton it enters the latter, and falls into the Weaver at Northwich; its course is about 22 miles. The character of these rivers differs much. The Weaver is narrow, deep, and slow; the Dane is broad, shallow, and swift. The Tame rises in Yorkshire; during the greater part of its course, which is only ten miles, it forms the boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire, and falls into the Mersey near Stockport.

Cheshire is intersected by the Duke of Bridgewater's canal; the Grand Trunk; the Ellesmere; the Chester and Nantwich, and the Peake Forest. The first runs through about twenty miles of the county, entering it to the east of Ashton, and joining the Mersey at Runcorn. The Grand Trunk canal communicates with the Duke of Bridgewater's at Preston-Brook, and passing by Northwich and Middlewich, enters Staffordshire near Lawton. There are four tunnels in the course of this canal through Cheshire, one of which, near Preston-on-the-Hill, is 1241 yards in length, 17 feet 4 inches in height, and 13 feet 6 inches in width. The Ellesmere canal joins the Mersey at Whitby, and after passing the east end of the Hundred of Wirral, and the south-east of Broxton, it connects with the Dee and the Chester canal at Chester; another branch forms a junction with the Chester canal at Hurleston. The Chester canal begins at the Dee, on the north of Chester, and passing through Christleton, Warriton, Hargrave, and to the north of Beeston Castle, terminates at Nantwich. The Peake Forest canal joins the Ashton and Oldham canal at Ashton-under-Line; it crosses the Tame near Dukinfield, and passing through Hyde, Marple, and Disley, enters Derbyshire near Whaley Bridge. Near Marple it is carried over the Mersey by an aqueduct of three arches and 100 feet in height. In the northern parts of Cheshire there are several small lakes called Meres.

The mineral productions of this county are coal, minerals, copper, lead, cobalt, and rock-salt. Coal abounds in the north-eastern parts, in a district of about ten miles from north to south; there are also some coleries in the Hundred of Wirral, one of which extends 1½ mile from high water-mark under the river Dee. Copper, lead, and cobalt, are found at Alderley Edge, and copper in the Peckforton Hills; but none of these ores are by any means abundant.

As the rock-salt and the brine-springs of Cheshire Salt Springs are naturally connected, and are found in the same districts, we shall consider them together. The brine-springs are principally met with in the valley through which the Weaver and the Wheelock flow; those from which salt is at present manufactured are at Lawton, Wheelock, Roughwood, in the townships of Anderton, Bechton, Leftwich, Middlewich, and in the neighbourhood of Northwich and Winsford. The brine-springs at Wheelock are at the depth of 60 yards. The brine is rich, but varies in strength; the strongest brine-springs are those of Anderton; those at Leftwich are the weakest.

The brine-springs of Cheshire were probably known to the ancient Britons. It is certain that salt made from them was one of the principal articles of the commerce of this county before the Norman Conquest. The discovery of the rock-salt, on Salt Mines, the other hand, is very recent; not having been made till 1670, during a search for coal, near Northwich. Since that period it has been found abundantly in the townships of Witton, Wincham, and Marston. The rock-salt is met with at various depths below the surface, from 28 to 48 yards; some of the strata are only four feet thick, and others 40 yards. In the mines near Northwich there are only two beds of rock-salt; but in other parts three beds have been found. These beds are divided from one another by strata of indurated clay or hard flag-stone, in which there are frequently found pieces of rock-salt. The muriate of soda, in the great body of the rock-salt, is mixed with a considerable portion of clay, oxide of iron, and sulphate of lime. In the lower strata, the rock-salt is a purer muriate of soda. The rock-salt is extremely hard, and in many cases requires to be blasted with gunpowder. The largest mine at present worked is that of Wilton; its depth is 330 feet, and its area nearly two acres; the ceiling, which is about 20 feet high, is supported by pillars 15 feet thick, each containing 294 solid yards of rock-salt. Fifty or sixty thousand tons of rock-salt are obtained annually from the pits in the neighbourhood of Northwich, which is the great seat of the salt trade in this county. One-third of the rock-salt is dissolved in water and crystallized by evaporation, and two-thirds are exported in its native state.

By the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, on the use of rock-salt in the fisheries, printed May 1817, it appears, that the capital embarked in the salt trade of Lancashire and Cheshire is about L.600,000; that on an average of five years to the 5th of April 1817, 240,000 tons of white salt had been made annually in these two counties; that from 300 to 330 flats and barges are employed in conveying the salt; that 267 people are employed in the salt mines; that 6500 are employed in the manufacture of salt; and that 400 tons of iron are consumed annually in this manufactory.

Quarries. Quarries of excellent freestone are found at Runcorn, Manley, and Great Bebington; limestone only at Newbold Astbury; millstones at Mowcop Hill; and sandstone fit for glass near Macclesfield. Marl abounds in almost every part of the county.

Landed property is, in general, very little divided in this county; there being, according to Mr Holland, fifty noblemen and gentlemen who possess in it property of the annual value of from L.3000 to L.10,000 a-year; and at least as many others with estates of from L.1000 to L.3000 a-year.

With respect to agriculture, Cheshire is almost entirely a dairy county: its arable husbandry is neither extensive nor of superior character. The principal dairies are about Nantwich, and in the district between the Dane and the Weaver; they are found, however, in every part of the county where the soil consists of clay. The number of cows kept for the dairy is about 32,000; and the quantity of cheese annually made about 11,500 tons. The average quantity of cheese from each cow annually is estimated at 300 lb.; eight quarts of milk, the average daily quantity yielded by each cow, producing one pound of cheese. In Lyme Park there is a herd of cattle of the same wild breed as those at Chillingham in Northumberland.

The ground in the vicinity of Frodsham and Altringham produces abundant crops of excellent potatoes; in the latter parish, where sea-mud is used, 100,000 bushels are generally grown annually.

The cotton manufactures of Lancashire have extended into the contiguous parts of Cheshire, particularly at Stockport. Silk is manufactured at Macclesfield and Congleton, where there are large silk-mills; hats at Stockport; white and red lead at Chester; and gunpowder at Tholwall. Tanneries are very numerous, and on a large scale, in the middle and north of the county.

In 1803, the poor-rates amounted to L.84,991. In 1815, 434 parishes and places paid the sum of L.125,630. There were no returns from 57 places. In 1801, the number of inhabited houses was 34,482, and of uninhabited 1139. The total number of inhabitants was 191,751. Of these, 92,759 were males, and 98,992 females: 38,823 were employed in agriculture, and 67,447 in trade, manufactures, and handicrafts. According to the returns in 1811, there were,

| Inhabited houses | 41,187 | |------------------|--------| | Families inhabiting them | 44,502 | | Houses building | 250 | | uninhabited | 1,239 | | Families employed in agriculture | 16,396 | | in trade, manufactures, and handicrafts | 23,043 | | not included in these classes | 5,063 | | Males | 110,841 | | Females | 116,190 | | Total | 227,031 | | Population in 1801 | 191,751 | | Increase | 36,280 |

See Holland's Agriculture of Cheshire.— Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. II.—Lyson's Magna Britannia, Vol. II. Part II.