Chapter XVI: Part 16

COSSACKS (Russ. _Kazak_; plural, _Kazaki_, from the Turki _quzz[=a]q_, "adventurer, free-booter"), the name given to considerable portions of the population of the Russian empire, endowed with certain special privileges, and bound in return to give military service, all at a certain age, under special conditions. They constitute ten separate _voiskos_, settled along the frontiers: Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Siberian, Semiryechensk, Amur and Usuri. The primary unit of this organization is the _stanitsa_, or village, which holds its land as a commune, and may allow persons who are not Cossacks (excepting Jews) to settle on this land for payment of a certain rent. The assembly of all householders in villages of less than 30 households, and of 30 elected men in villages having from 30 to 300 households (one from each 10 households in the more populous ones), constitutes the village assembly, similar to the _mir_, but having wider attributes, which assesses the taxes, divides the land, takes measures for the opening and support of schools, village grain-stores, communal cultivation, and so on, and elects its _ataman_ (elder) and its judges, who settle all disputes up to L10 (or above that sum with the consent of both sides). Military service is obligatory for all men, for 20 years, beginning with the age of 18. The first 3 years are passed in the preliminary division, the next 12 in active service, and the last 5 years in the reserve. Every Cossack is bound to procure his own uniform, equipment and horse (if mounted)--the government supplying only the arms. Those on active service are divided into three equal parts according to age, and the first third only is in real service, while the two others stay at home, but are bound to march out as soon as an order is given. The officers are supplied in the usual way by the military schools, in which all Cossack _voiskos_ have their own vacancies, or are non-commissioned Cossack officers, with officers' grades. In return for this service the Cossacks have received from the state considerable grants of land for each _voisko_ separately.

The total Cossack population in 1893 was 2,648,049 (1,331,470 women), and they owned nearly 146,500,000 acres of land, of which 105,000,000 acres were arable and 9,400,000 under forests. This land was divided between the _stanitsas_, at the rate of 81 acres per each soul, with special grants to officers (personal to some of them, _in lieu_ of pensions), and leaving about one-third of the land as a reserve for the future. The income which the Cossack _voiskos_ receive from the lands which they rent to different persons, also from various sources (trade patents, rents of shops, fisheries, permits of gold-digging, &c.), as also from the subsidies they receive from the government (about L712,500 in 1893), is used to cover all the expenses of state and local administration. They have besides a special reserve capital of about L2,600,000. The expenditure of the village administration is covered by village taxes. The general administration is kept separately for each _voisko_, and differs with the different _voiskos_. The central administration, at the Ministry of War, is composed of representatives of each _voisko_, who discuss the proposals of all new laws affecting the Cossacks. In time of war the ten Cossack _voiskos_ are bound to supply 890 mounted _sotnias_ or squadrons (of 125 men each), 108 infantry _sotnias_ or companies (same number), and 236 guns, representing 4267 officers and 177,100 men, with 170,695 horses. In time of peace they keep 314 squadrons, 54 infantry _sotnias_, and 20 batteries containing 108 guns (2574 officers, 60,532 men, 50,054 horses). Altogether, the Cossacks have 328,705 men ready to take arms in case of need. As a rule, popular education amongst the Cossacks stands at a higher level than in the remainder of Russia. They have more schools and a greater proportion of their children go to school. In addition to agriculture, which (with the exception of the Usuri Cossacks) is sufficient to supply their needs and usually to leave a certain surplus, they carry on extensive cattle and horse breeding, vine culture in Caucasia, fishing on the Don, the Ural, and the Caspian, hunting, bee-culture, &c. The extraction of coal, gold and other minerals which are found on their territories is mostly rented to strangers, who also own most factories.

A military organization similar to that of the Cossacks has been introduced into certain districts, which supply a number of mounted infantry _sotnias_. Their peace-footing is as follows:--Daghestan, 6 regular squadrons and 3 of militia; Kuban Circassians, 1 _sotnia_; Terek, 8 _sotnias_; Kars, 3 _sotnias_; Batum, 2 infantry and 1 mounted _sotnia_; Turkomans, 3 _sotnias_; total, 25 squadrons and 2 companies.

For the origin and history of the Cossacks see POLAND: History, and
the biographies of Razin, Chmielnicki and Mazepa. (P. A. K.)

COSSIMBAZAR, or KASIMBAZAR, a decayed town on the river Bhagirathi in the Murshidabad district of Bengal, India, now included in the Berhampur municipality. Pop. (1901) 1262. Though the history of the place cannot be traced back earlier than the 17th century, it was of great importance long before the foundation of Murshidabad. From the first European traders set up factories here, and after the ruin of Satgaon by the silting up of the mouth of the Saraswati it gained a position, as the great trading centre of Bengal, which was not challenged until after the foundation of Calcutta. In 1658 the first English agent was established at Cossimbazar, and in 1667 the chief of the factory there became an _ex-officio_ member of council. In English documents of this period, and till the early 19th century, the Bhagirathi was described as the Cossimbazar river, and the triangular piece of land between the Bhagirathi, Padma and Jalangi, on which the city stands, as the island of Cossimbazar. The proximity of the factory to Murshidabad, the Mahommedan capital, while it was the main source of its wealth and of its political importance, exposed it to constant danger. Thus in 1757 it was the first to be taken by Suraj-ud-dowlah, the nawab; ana the resident with his assistant (Warren Hastings) were taken as prisoners to Murshidabad.

At the beginning of the 19th century the city still flourished; so late as 1811 it was described as famous for its silks, hosiery, _koras_ and beautiful ivory work. But an insidious change in its once healthy climate had begun to work its decay; the area of cultivated land round it had shrunk to vanishing point, jungle haunted by wild beasts taking its place; and in 1813 its ruin was completed by a sudden change in the course of the Bhagirathi, which formed a new channel 3 m. from the old town, leaving an evil-smelling swamp around the ancient wharves. Of its splendid buildings the fine palace of the maharaja of Cossimbazar alone remains, the rest being in ruins or represented only by great mounds of earth. The first wife of Warren Hastings was buried at Cossimbazar, where her tomb with its inscription still remains.

See _Imp. Gaz. of India_ (Oxford, 1908), s.v.

COSTA, GIOVANNI (1826-1903), Italian painter, was born in Rome. He fought under Garibaldi in 1848, and served as a volunteer in the war of 1859; and his enthusiasm for Italian unity was actively shown again in 1870, when he was the first to mount the breach in the assault of Rome near the Porta Pia. He had settled meanwhile at Florence, where his fight for the independence of art from worn-out traditions was no less strenuous, and he became known as a landscape-painter of remarkable originality, and of great influence in the return to minute observation of nature. He had many English friends and followers, notably Matthew Ridley Corbet (1850-1902), and Lord Carlisle, and was closely associated with Corot and the Barbizon school. In later years he lived and worked mainly in Rome, where his studio was an important centre. An exhibition of his pictures was held in London in 1904, and he is represented in the Tate Gallery. He died at Rome in 1903.

See also Madame Agresti's _Giovanni Costa_ (1904).

COSTA, LORENZO (1460-1535), Italian painter, was born at Ferrara, but went in early life to Bologna and ranks with the Bolognese school. In 1438 he painted his famous "Madonna and Child with the Bentivoglio family," and other frescoes, on the walls of the Bentivoglio chapel in San Giacomo Maggiore, and he followed this with many other works. He was a great friend of Francia, who was much influenced by him. In 1509 he went to Mantua, where his patron was the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga, and he eventually died there. His "Madonna and Child enthroned" is in the National Gallery, London, but his chief works are at Bologna. His sons, Ippolito (1506-1561) and Girolamo, were also painters, and so was Girolamo's son Lorenzo the younger (1537-1583).

COSTA, SIR MICHAEL ANDREW AGNUS (1808-1884), British musical conductor and composer, the son of Cavaliere Pasquale Costa, a Spaniard, was born at Naples on the 14th of February 1808. Here he became at an early age a scholar at the Royal College of Music. His cantata _L'Immagine_ was composed when he was fifteen. In 1826 he wrote his first opera _Il Delitto Punito_; in 1827 another opera _Il sospetto funesto_. To this period belong also his oratorio _La Passione_, a grand Mass for four voices, a _Dixit Dominus_, and three symphonies. The opera _Il Carcere d'Ildegonda_ was composed in 1828 for the Teatro Nuovo, and in 1829 Costa wrote his _Malvina_ for Barbaja, the impresario of San Carlo. In this latter year he visited Birmingham to conduct Zingarelli's _Cantata Sacra_, a setting of some verses from Isaiah ch. xii. Instead, however, of conducting, he sang the tenor part. In 1830 he settled in London, having a connexion with the King's theatre. His ballet _Kenilworth_ was written in 1831, the ballet _Une Heure a Naples_ in 1832, and the ballet _Sir Huon_ (composed for Taglioni) in 1833. In this latter year he wrote his famous quartet _Ecco quel fiero istante. Malek Adhel_, an opera, was produced in Paris in 1837. In 1842 he wrote the ballet music of _Alma_ for Cerito, and in 1844 his opera _Don Carlos_ was produced in London. Costa became a naturalized Englishman and received the honour of knighthood in 1869. He conducted the opera at Her Majesty's from 1832 till 1846, when he seceded to the Italian Opera at Covent Garden; he was conductor of the Philharmonic Society from 1846 to 1854, of the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848, and of the Birmingham festival from 1849. In 1855 Costa wrote _Eli_, and in 1864 _Naaman_, both for Birmingham. Meanwhile he had conducted the Bradford (1853) and Handel festivals (1857-1880), and the Leeds festivals from 1874 to 1880. On the 29th of April 1884 he died at Brighton. Costa was the great conductor of his day, but both his musical and his human sympathies were somewhat limited; his compositions have passed into oblivion, with the exception of the least admirable of them--his arrangement of the national anthem.

COSTAKI, ANTHOPOULOS (1835-1902), Turkish pasha, was born in 1835. He became a professor at the Turkish naval college; then entered the legal branch of the Turkish service, rising to the post of _procureur imperial_ at the court of cassation. He was governor-general of Crete; and in 1895 was appointed Ottoman ambassador in London, a post which he continued to hold until his death at Constantinople in 1902. He bore throughout his career the reputation of an intelligent and upright public servant.

COSTANZO, ANGELO DI (c 1507-1591), Italian historian and poet, was born at Naples about 1507. He lived in a literary circle, and fell in love with the beautiful Vittoria Colonna. His great work, _Le Istorie del regno di Napoli dal 1250 fino al 1498_, first appeared at Naples in 1572, and was the fruit of thirty or forty years' labour; but nine more years were devoted to the task before it was issued in its final form at Aquila (1581). It is still one of the best histories of Naples, and the style is distinguished by clearness, simplicity and elegance. The _Rime_ of di Costanzo are remarkable for finical taste, for polish and frequent beauty of expression, and for strict obedience to the poetical canons of his time.

See G. Tiraboschi, _Storia della letteratura italiana_, vol. vii.
(Florence, 1812).

COSTA RICA, a republic of Central America, bounded on the N. by Nicaragua, E. by the Caribbean Sea, S.E. and S. by Panama, S.W., W. and N.W. by the Pacific Ocean. (For map, see CENTRAL AMERICA.) The territory thus enclosed has an area of about 18,500 sq. m., and may be roughly described as an elevated tableland, intersected by lofty mountain ranges, with their main axis trending from N.W. to S.E. It is fringed, along the coasts, by low-lying marshes and lagoons, alternating with tracts of rich soil and wastes of sand.

_Physical Description._--The northern frontier, drawn 2 m. S. of the southern shores of the river San Juan and of Lake Nicaragua, terminates at Salinas Bay on the Pacific; its southern frontier skirts the valley of the Sixola or Tiliri, strikes south-east along the crests of the Talamanca Mountains as far as 9 deg. N., and then turns sharply south, ending in Burica Point. The monotonous Atlantic littoral is unbroken by any large inlet or estuary, and thus contrasts in a striking manner with the varied outlines of the Pacific coast, which includes the three bold promontories of Nicoya, Golfo Dulce and Burica, besides the broad sweep of Coronada Bay and several small harbours. The Gulf of Nicoya, a shallow landlocked inlet, containing a whole archipelago of richly-wooded islets, derives its name from Nicoya, an Indian chief who, with his tribe, was here converted to Christianity in the 16th century. It is famous for its purple-yielding murex, pearls and mother-of-pearl. The Golfo Dulce has an average depth of 100 fathoms and contains no islands. Two volcanic _Cordilleras_ or mountain chains, separated from one another by the central plateau of San Jose and Cartago, traverse the interior of Costa Rica, and form a single watershed, often precipitous on its Pacific slope, but descending more gradually towards the Atlantic, where there is a broad expanse of plain in the north-east. The more northerly range, in which volcanic disturbances on a great scale have been comparatively recent, extends transversely across the country, from a point a little south of Salinas Bay, to the headland of Carreta, the southern extremity of the Atlantic seaboard, also known as Monkey Point. Its direction changes from south-east to east-south-east opposite to the entrance into the Gulf of Nicoya, where it is cut into two sections by a depression some 20 m. wide. At first it is rather a succession of isolated volcanic cones than a continuous ridge, the most conspicuous peaks being Orosi (5185 ft.), the four-crested Rincon de la Vieja (4500), Miravalles (4698) and Tenorio (6800). In this region it is known as the Sierra de Tilaran. Then succeed the Cerros de los Guatusos, a highland stretching for more than 50 m. without a single volcano. Poas (8895), the scene of a violent eruption in 1834, begins a fresh series of igneous peaks, some with flooded craters, some with a constant escape of smoke and vapour. From Irazu (11,200), the culminating point of the range, both oceans and the whole of Costa Rica are visible; its altitude exceeds that of Aneto, the highest point in the Pyrenees, but so gradual is its acclivity that the summit can easily be reached by a man on horseback. Turialba (10,910), adjoining Irazu on the east, was in eruption in 1866. Its name, though probably of Indian origin, is sometimes written Turrialba, and connected with the Latin _Turris Alba_, "White Tower." The more southerly of the two Costa Rican ranges, known as the Cordillera de Talamanca, rises south of the Gulf of Nicoya, and extends midway between the two oceans towards the south-east. It follows exactly the curve of the mainland, and is continued into Panama, under the name of the Cordillera de Chiriqui. Its chief summits are Chirripo Grande (11,485), the loftiest in the whole country, Buena Vista (10,820), Ujum (8695), Pico Blanco (9645) and Rovalo (7050), on the borders of Panama. Throughout the volcanic area earthquakes and landslides are of frequent occurrence.

The narrowness of the level ground between the mountains and the sea renders almost impossible the formation of any navigable river. The most important streams are those of the Atlantic seaboard, notably the San Juan, which drains Lake Nicaragua. Issuing from the lake within Nicaraguan territory, the San Juan has a course of 95 m., mostly along the frontier, to the Colorado Mouth, which is its main outfall, and belongs wholly to Costa Rica. Its chief right-hand tributaries are the San Carlos and Sarapiqui. The Reventazon, or Parismina, flows from the central plateau to the Caribbean Sea; despite the shortness of its valley, its volume is considerable, owing to the prevalence of moist trade-winds near its sources. Six small streams and one large river, the Rio Frio, flow across the northern frontier into Lake Nicaragua. On the Pacific coast all the rivers are rapid and liable to sudden floods. None is large, although three bear the prefix _Rio Grande_, "great river." The Tempisque enters the Pacific at the head of the Gulf of Nicoya, and tends to silt up that already shallow inlet (5-10 fathoms) with its alluvial deposits. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles also enters the gulf, and the Rio Grande de Pirris and Rio Grande de Terrabis or Diquis flow into Coronada Bay. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles rises close to the Ochomogo Pass and the sources of the Reventazon, at the base of Irazu; and the headwaters of these two streams indicate precisely the depression in the central plateau which severs the northern from the southern mountains.

Costa Rica is not differentiated from the neighbouring lands by any very marked peculiarities of geological formation, or of plant and animal life. Its geology, flora and fauna are therefore described under Central America (q.v.).

_Climate._--Owing to the proximity of two oceans, and the varied configuration of the surface of Costa Rica, an area of a few square miles may exhibit the most striking extremes of climate; but, over the entire country, it is possible to distinguish three climatic zones--tropical, temperate and cold. These generally succeed one another as the altitude increases, although the heat is greater at the same elevation on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast. It is, however, less oppressive, as cool breezes prevail and damp is comparatively rare. The tropical zone comprises the coast and the foothills, and ranges, in its mean annual temperature, from 72 deg. F. to 82 deg.. In the San Jose plateau (3000-5000 ft.), which is the most densely populated portion of the temperate zone, the average is 68 deg., with an average variation for all seasons of only 5 deg.. Above 7500 ft. frosts are frequent, but snow rarely falls. The wet season, lasting during the prevalence of the south-west monsoon, from April to December, is clearly defined on the Pacific slope. It is curiously interrupted by a fortnight of dry weather, known as the _Veranillo de San Juan_, in June. Towards the Atlantic the trade-winds may bring rain in any month. Winter lasts from December to February. The normal rainfall is about 80 in., but as cloud-bursts are common, it may rise to 150 in. or even more. Rheumatism on the Atlantic seaboard, and malaria on both coasts, are the commonest forms of disease; but, as a whole, Costa Rica is one of the healthiest of tropical lands.

_Population._--In 1904, according to the official returns, the total population numbered 331,340; having increased by more than one-fourth in a decade. Spanish, with various modifications of dialect, and the introduction of many Indian words, is the principal language; and the majority of the inhabitants claim descent from the Spanish colonists--chiefly Galicians--who came hither during the 16th and subsequent centuries. The percentage of Spanish blood is greater than in the other Central American republics; but there is also a large population of half-castes (_ladinos_ or _mestizos_) due to intermarriage with native Indians. The resident foreigners, who are mostly Spaniards, Italians, Germans and British subjects, numbered less than 8000 in 1904; immigration is, however, encouraged by the easy terms on which land can be purchased from the state. The native Indians, though exterminated in many districts, and civilized in others, remain in a condition of complete savagery along parts of the Nicaraguan border, where they are known as Prazos or Guatusos, in the Talamanca country and elsewhere. Their numbers may be estimated at 4000. They are a quiet and inoffensive folk, who dwell in stockaded encampments, and preserve their ancestral language and customs. For an account of early Indian civilization in Costa Rica, see CENTRAL AMERICA: Archaeology. The Mosquito Indians come every summer to fish for turtle off the Atlantic coast. As only 200 negroes were settled in Costa Rica when slavery was abolished in 1824, and no important increase ever took place through immigration, the black population is remarkably small, amounting only to some 1200.

_Chief Towns and Communications._--The whites are congregated in or near the chief towns, which include the capital, San Jose (pop. 1904 about 24,500), the four provincial capitals of Alajuela (4860), Cartago (4536), Heredia (7151) and Liberia or Guanacaste (2831), with the seaportsof Puntarenas (3569), on the Pacific, and Limon (3171) on the Atlantic. These, with the exception of Heredia and Liberia, are described in separate articles. The transcontinental railway from Limon to Puntarenas was begun in 1871, and forms the nucleus of a system intended ultimately to connect all the fertile parts of the country, and to join the railways of Nicaragua and Panama. It skirts the Atlantic coast as far as the small port of Matina; thence it passes inland to Reventazon, and bifurcates to cross the northern mountains; one branch going north of Irazu, while the other traverses the Ochomogo Pass. At San Jose these lines reunite, and the railway is continued to Alajuela, the small Pacific port of Tivives, and Puntarenas. The railways are owned partly by the state, partly by the Costa Rica railway company, which, in 1904, arranged to build several branch lines through the banana districts of the Atlantic littoral. Apart from the main lines of communication the roads are very rough, often mere tracks; and the principal means of transport are ox-carts or pack-mules. The postal and telegraphic services are also somewhat inadequate.

_Agriculture and Industries._--The name "Costa Rica," meaning "rich coast," is well deserved; for, owing to the combination of ample sunshine and moisture with a wonderfully fertile soil, almost any kind of fruit or flower can be successfully cultivated; while the vast tracts of virgin forest, which remain along the Atlantic slopes, contain an abundance of cedar, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and ebony, with fustic and other precious dye-woods. The country is essentially agricultural, and owes its political stability to the presence of a large class of peasant proprietors, who number more than two-thirds of the population. Coffee, first planted in 1838, is grown chiefly on the plateau of San Jose. The special adaptability of this region to its growth is attributed to the nature of the soil, which consists of layers of black or dark-brown volcanic ash, varying in depth from 1 to 6 yds. Bananas are grown over a large and increasing area; rice, maize, barley, potatoes and beans are cultivated to some extent in the interior; cocoa, vanilla, sugar-cane, cotton and indigo are products of the warm coast-lands, but are hardly raised in sufficient quantities to meet the local demand. Stock-farming, a relatively undeveloped industry, tends to become more important, owing to the assistance which the state renders by the importation of horses, cattle, sheep and swine, from Europe and the United States, in order to improve the native breeds. In the south-east farmers are often compelled to retire with their flocks and herds before the thousands of huge, migratory vampires, which descend suddenly on the pastures and are able in one night to bleed the strongest animal to death. The manufactures are insignificant; and although silver, copper, iron, zinc, lead and marble are said to exist in considerable quantities, the only ores that have been worked are gold, silver and copper. At the beginning of the 20th century the silver and copper mines had been abandoned. The goldfields are exploited with American capital, and yield a fair return.

_Commerce._--The exports, which comprise coffee, bananas, cocoa, cabinet-woods and dye-woods, with hides and skins, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and gold, were officially valued at L1,398,000 in 1904; and in the same year the imports, including foodstuffs, dry goods and hardware, were valued at L1,229,000. Over L1,250,000 worth of the exports consisted of coffee and bananas, and these commodities were of almost equal value. Nearly 85% of the coffee, or more than 20,000,000 lb., were sent to Great Britain. The development of the banana trade dates from 1881, when 3500 bunches of fruit were exported to New Orleans. This total increased very rapidly, and in 1902 a monthly service of steamers was established from Limon to Bristol and Manchester. The service to England soon became a weekly one, while there are at least three weekly sailings to the United States. In 1904 the number of bunches sent abroad exceeded 6,000,000. So important is this crop that the rate of wages to labourers in the banana districts is nearly 3s. daily, as compared with an average of 1s. 8d. in the coffee plantations. The bulk of the imports comes from the United States (52% in 1904), Great Britain (19%) and Germany (13%). Almost the whole foreign trade passes through Limon and Puntarenas. In 1904, exclusive of banana steamers, there were regular steamship services weekly from Limon to the United States and Germany, fortnightly to Great Britain, and monthly to France, Italy and Spain; while at Puntarenas four American liners called monthly on the voyage between San Francisco and Panama.

_Finance._--The valuable resources of the republic, and its comparative immunity from revolution, formerly attracted the attention of European and American investors, who supplied the capital for internal development. In 1871 the government contracted a loan of L1,000,000 in London, and in 1872 it borrowed an additional L2,400,000 for railway construction. The outstanding foreign debt amounted in 1887 to L2,691,300, while the arrears of interest were no less than L2,119,500. An arrangement with the creditors was concluded in 1888; but in 1895 the republic again became bankrupt, and a fresh arrangement was sanctioned in March 1897, by which the interest on L1,475,000 was reduced to 2-1/2% and that on L525,000 to 3%. It was provided that amortization, at L10,000 yearly, should begin in 1917. In 1904 the service of the external debt, which then amounted to L2,500,000, including L500,000 arrears of interest, was again suspended; the total of the internal debt was L815,000. About one-half of the national revenue is derived from customs, the remainder being principally furnished by railways, stamps, and the salt and tobacco monopolies. In the financial year 1904-1905 the revenue was L503,000, the expenditure L390,000. Education, internal development and the service of the internal debt were the chief sources of expenditure.

_Money and Credit._--There are three important banks, the Anglo-Costa Rican Bank, with a capital of L120,000, the Bank of Costa Rica (L200,000), and the Commercial Bank of Costa Rica (L100,000), founded in 1905. On the 25th of April 1900 a law was enacted for the regulation of the constitution, capital, note emission and metallic reserves of banks. On the 24th of October 1896 an act was passed for the adoption of a gold coinage, and the execution of this act was decreed on the 17th of April 1900. The monetary unit is the gold colon weighing .778 gramme, .900 fine, and thus worth about 23d. It is legally equivalent to the silver peso, which continues in circulation. The gold coins of the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany are legally current. The metric system of weights and measures was introduced by law in 1884, but the old Spanish system is still in use.

_Constitution and Government._--Costa Rica is governed under a constitution of 1870, which, however, only came into force in 1882, and has often been modified. The legislative power resides in a House of Representatives, consisting of about 30 to 40 deputies, or one for every 8000 inhabitants. The deputies are chosen for a term of four years by local electoral colleges, whose members are returned by the votes of all self-supporting citizens. One-half of the chamber retires automatically every two years. The president and three vice-presidents constitute the executive. They are assisted by a cabinet of four ministers, representing the departments of the interior, police and public works; foreign affairs, justice, religion and education; finance and commerce; war and marine. For purposes of local administration the state is divided into five provinces, Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia and San Jose, and two maritime districts (_comarcas_), Limon and Puntarenas. All these divisions except Guanacaste--which takes its name from a variety of mimosa very common in the province--are synonymous with their chief towns; and each is controlled by a governor or prefect appointed by the president. Justice is administered by a supreme court, two courts of appeal, and the court of cassation, which sit in San Jose, and are supplemented by various inferior tribunals.

_Religion and Education._--The Roman Catholic Church is supported by the state, and the vast majority of the people accept its doctrines; but complete religious liberty is guaranteed by the constitution. The Jesuits, who formerly exercised widespread influence, were expelled in 1884. Of the other religious communities, the most important are the Protestants, numbering 3000, and the Buddhists, about 250. Primary education is free and compulsory; the standard of attendance is high and the instruction fair, but a large proportion of the older inhabitants were illiterate at the beginning of the 20th century. In the matter of secondary education considerable neglect has been shown. In 1904 there were only six secondary schools, including the institute of law and medicine and the training-school for teachers at San Jose. The state grants scholarships tenable at European universities to promising pupils, and there are three important public libraries.

_Defence._--Military service in time of war is compulsory for all able-bodied citizens aged 18-50. There are a permanent army, of about 600; a militia, comprising an active service branch to which all under 40 belong, with a reserve for those between 40 and 50; and a national guard, including all males under 18 and over 50 who are capable of bearing arms. On a war footing these forces would number about 36,000. A gunboat and a torpedo boat constitute the navy, which, however, requires the services of an admiral, subordinate to the ministry of marine.

_History._--The origin of the name _Costa Rica_ (Spanish for "Rich Coast") has been much disputed. It is often stated that the territories to which the name is now applied were first known as _Nueva Cartago_, while _Costa Rica_ was used in a wider sense to designate the whole south-western coast of the Caribbean Sea, from the supposed mineral wealth of this region. Then, in 1540, the name was restricted to an area approximately equal to that of modern Costa Rica. In such a case it must have been bestowed ironically, for the country proved very unprofitable to the gold-seekers, who were its earliest European settlers. Col. Church, in the paper cited below, derives it from _Costa de Oreja_, "Earring Coast," in allusion to the earrings worn by the Indians and remarked by their conquerors. He quotes evidence to show that this name was known to 16th-century cartographers.

With the rest of Central America, Costa Rica remained a province of the Spanish captaincy-general of Guatemala until 1821. Its conquest was completed by 1530, and ten years later it was made a separate province, the limits of which were fixed, by order of Philip II., between 1560 and 1573. This task was principally executed by Juan Vazquez de Coronado (or Vasquez de Coronada), an able and humane governor appointed in 1562, whose civilizing work was undone by the almost uninterrupted maladministration of his fifty-eight successors. The Indians were enslaved, and their welfare was wholly subordinated to the quest for gold. From 1666 onwards both coasts were ravaged by pirates, who completed the ruin of the country. Diego de la Haya y Fernandez, governor in 1718, reported to the crown that no province of Spanish America was in so wretched a condition. Cocoa-beans were the current coinage. Tomas de Acosta, governor from 1797 to 1809, confirmed this report, and stated that the Indians were clothed in bark, and compelled in many cases to borrow even this primitive attire when the law required their attendance at church.

On the 15th of September 1821 Costa Rica, with the other Central American provinces, revolted and joined the Mexican empire under the dynasty of Iturbide; but this subjection never became popular, and, on the establishment of a Mexican republic in 1823, hostilities broke out between the Conservatives, who desired to maintain the union, and the Liberals, who wished to set up an independent republic. The opposing factions met near the Ochomogo Pass; the republicans were victorious, and the seat of government was transferred from Cartago, the old capital, to San Jose, the Liberal headquarters. From 1824 to 1839 Costa Rica joined the newly formed Republic of the United States of Central America; but the authority of the central government proved little more than nominal, and the Costa Ricans busied themselves with trade and abstained from politics. The exact political status of the country was not, however, definitely assured until 1848, when an independent republic was again proclaimed. In 1856-60 the state was involved in war with the adventurer William Walker (see CENTRAL AMERICA); but its subsequent history has been one of immunity from political disturbances, other than boundary disputes, and occasional threats of revolution, due chiefly to unsatisfactory economic conditions. The attempt of J. R. Barrios, president of Guatemala, to restore federal unity to Central America failed in 1885, and had little influence on Costa Rican affairs. In 1897 the state joined the Greater Republic of Central America, established in 1895 by Honduras, Nicaragua and Salvador, but dissolved in 1898. The boundary question between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was referred to the arbitration of the president of the United States, who gave his award in 1888, confirming a treaty of 1858; further difficulties arising from the work of demarcation were settled by treaty in 1896. The boundary between Costa Rica and Panama (then a province of Colombia) was fixed by the arbitration of the French president, who gave his award on the 15th of September 1900. The frontiers delimited in accordance with these awards have already been described.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--In addition to the works on Central America cited under
that heading, the following give much general information: G.
Niederlein, _The Republic of Costa Rica_ (Philadelphia, 1898); R.
Villafranca, _Costa Rica_ (New York, 1895); L. Z. Baron, _Compendio
geographico y estadistico de la Republica de Costa Rica_ (San Jose,
1894); H. Pittier, _Apuntaciones sobre el clima y geographia de la
Republica de Costa Rica_ (San Jose, 1890); P. Biolley, _Costa Rica and
her Future_ (Washington, 1889); M. M. de Peralta, _Costa Rica_
(London, 1873). For an account of immigration, commerce and other
mainly statistical matters, see J. Schroeder, _Costa Rica State
Immigration_ (San Jose, 1894); _Bulletins_ of the Bureau of American
Republics (Washington); British _Diplomatic and Consular Reports_
(London); U.S.A. _Consular Reports_ (Washington); _Reports of the
Ministries_ (San Jose). For the history of Costa Rica, see L. Z.
Baron, _Compendio de la historia de Costa Rica_ (San Jose, 1894); F.
M. Barrantes, _Elementos de historia de Costa Rica_ (San Jose, 1892);
J. B. Calvo, _The Republic of Costa Rica_ (Chicago, 1890), gives a
partisan account of local politics, trade and finance, authorized by
the government. Frontier questions are discussed fully in Col. G. E.
Church's "Costa Rica," a very valuable paper in vol. x. of the
_Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_ (London, 1897); and, by Dr
E. Seler, in "Der Grenzstreit zwischen den Republiken Costa Rica und
Colombia," in _Petermann's Mittheilungen_, vol. xlvi. (1900). For a
detailed bibliography see D. J. Maluquer, _Republica de Costa Rica_
(Madrid, 1890). The best maps are that of the Bureau of American
Republics (1903), and, for physical features, that of Col. Church,
published by the R.G.S. (London, 1897).

COSTELLO, DUDLEY (1803-1865), English journalist and novelist, son of Colonel J. F. Costello, was born in Ireland in 1803. He was educated for the army at Sandhurst, and served for a short time in India, Canada and the West Indies. His literary and artistic tastes led him to quit the army in 1828, and he then passed some years in Paris. He was introduced to Baron Cuvier, who employed him as draughtsman in the preparation of his _Regne animal_. He next occupied himself in copying illuminated manuscripts in the Bibliotheque Royale; and to him and his sister belongs the merit of being the first to draw general attention to this beautiful forgotten art, and of thus leading to its revival. About 1838 Costello became foreign correspondent to the _Morning Herald_; in 1846 he became foreign correspondent of the _Daily News_; and during the last twenty years of his life he held the post of sub-editor of the _Examiner_. He wrote _A Tour through the Valley of the Meuse_ (1845) and _Piedmont and Italy, from the Alps to the Tiber_ (1859-1861). Among his novels are _Stories from a Screen_ (1855), _The Millionaire_ (1858), _Faint Heart never won Fair Lady_ (1859) and _Holidays with Hobgoblins_ (1860). He died on the 30th of September 1865.

His elder sister, LOUISA STUART COSTELLO (1799-1870), author and miniature painter, was born in Ireland in 1799. Her father died while she was young, and Louisa, who removed to Paris with her mother in 1814, helped to support her mother and brother by her skill as an artist. At the age of sixteen she published a volume of verse entitled _The Maid of the Cyprus Isle, and other poems_. This was followed in 1825 by _Songs of a Stranger_, dedicated to W. L. Bowles. Ten years later appeared her _Specimens of the Early Poetry of France_, illustrated by beautifully executed illuminations, the work of her brother and herself. It was dedicated to Moore, and procured her his friendship as well as that of Sir Walter Scott. Her principal works are--_A Summer among the Bocages and Vines_ (1840); _The Queen's Poisoner_ (or _The Queen-Mother_), a historical romance (1841); _Bearn and the Pyrenees_ (1844); _Memoirs of Eminent Englishwomen_ (1844); _The Rose Garden of Persia_ (1845), a series of translations from Persian poets, with illuminations by herself and her brother; _The Falls, Lakes and Mountains of North Wales_ (1845); _Clara Fane_ (1848), a novel; _Memoirs of Mary of Burgundy_ (1853); and _Memoirs of Anne of Brittany_ (1855). She died at Boulogne on the 24th of April 1870.

COSTER-MONGER (originally COSTARD-MONGER, a seller of costards, a species of large ribbed apple). The word "monger" is common, in various forms, in Teutonic languages in the sense of trader or dealer, and appears in "iron-monger" and "fish-monger," and with a derogatory significance of petty or under-hand dealing in such words as "scandal-monger." A "coster-monger," or "coster," originally, therefore, one who sold apples and fruit in the street, is now an itinerant dealer in fruit, vegetables or fish, but more particularly, as distinguished from a "hawker" on the one hand, and "general dealer" on the other, is a street trader in the above commodities who uses a barrow. The coster-monger's trade in London, so far as it falls under clause 6 of the Metropolitan Streets Act 1867, which deals with obstruction by goods to footways and streets is subject to regulations of the commissioner of police. So long as these are carried out, coster-mongers, street hawkers and itinerant traders are exempted, by an amending act, from the liabilities imposed by clause 6 of the above act.

COSTS, a term used in English law to denote the expenses incurred (1) in employing a lawyer in his professional capacity for purposes other than litigation; (2) in instituting and carrying on litigation whether with or without the aid of a lawyer.

_Solicitor and Client._--The retainer of a solicitor implies a contract to pay to him his proper charges and disbursements with respect to the work done by him as a solicitor. In cases of conveyancing his remuneration is now for the most part regulated by scales _ad valorem_ on the value of the property dealt with (Solicitors' Remuneration Order 1882), and clients are free to make written agreements for the conduct of any class of non-litigious business, fixing the costs by a percentage on the value of the amount involved. So far as litigious business is concerned, the arrangement known as "no cure no pay" is objected to by the courts and the profession as leading to speculative actions, and stipulations as to a share of the proceeds of a successful action are champertous and illegal. An English solicitor's bill drawn in the old form is a voluminous itemized narrative of every act done by him in the cause or matter with a charge set against each entry and often against each letter written. Before the solicitor can recover from his client the amount of his charges, he must deliver a signed bill of costs and wait a month before suing.

The High Court has a threefold jurisdiction to deal with solicitors' costs:--(1) by virtue of its jurisdiction over them as its officers; (2) statutory, under the Solicitors Act 1843 and other legislation; (3) ordinary, to ascertain the reasonableness of charges made the subject of a claim.

The client can, as a matter of course, get an order for taxation within a month of the delivery of the solicitor's bill, and either client or solicitor can get such an order as of course within twelve months of delivery. After expiry of that time the court may order taxation if the special circumstances call for it, and even so late as twelve months after actual payment.

Costs as between solicitor and client are taxed in the same office as litigious costs, and objections to the decisions of the taxing officer, if properly made, can be taken for review to a judge of the High Court and to the Court of Appeal.

_Litigious Costs._--The expenses of litigation fall in the first instance on the person who undertakes the proceedings or retains and employs the lawyer. It is in accordance with the ordinary ideas of justice that the expenses of the successful party to litigation should be defrayed by the unsuccessful party, a notion expressed in the phrase that "costs follow the event." But there are many special circumstances which interfere to modify the application of this rule. The action, though successful, may be in its nature frivolous or vexatious, or it may have been brought in a higher court where a lower court would have been competent to deal with it. On the other hand the defendant, although he has escaped a judgment against him, may by his conduct have rendered the action necessary or otherwise justifiable. In such cases the rule that costs should follow the event would be felt to work an injustice, and exceptions to its operation have therefore been devised. In the law of England the provisions as to litigious costs, though now simpler than of old, are still elaborate and complicated, and the costs themselves are on a higher scale than is known in most other countries.

Except as regards appeals to the House of Lords and suits in equity, the right to recover costs from the opposite party in litigation has always depended on statute law or on rules made under statutory authority, "Costs are the creature of statute." The House of Lords has declared its competence to grant costs on appeals independently of statute.

In the judicial committee of the privy council the power to award, in its discretion, costs on appeals from the colonies or other matters referred to it, is given by S 15 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833; and the costs are taxed by the registrar of the council.

Courts of equity have always claimed a discretion independently of statute to give or refuse costs, but as a general rule the maxim of the civil law, _victus victori in expensis condemnatus est_, was followed. The successful party was recognized to have a prima facie claim to costs, but the court might, on sufficient cause shown, not only deprive him of his costs, but even in some rare cases order him to pay the costs of his unsuccessful opponent. There was a class of cases in which the court generally gave costs to parties sustaining a certain character, whatever might be the result of the suit (e.g. trustees, executors and mortgagees).

In the courts of common law, costs were not given either to plaintiff or defendant, although the damages given to a successful plaintiff might suffice to cover not only the loss sustained by the wrong done, but also the expense he had been put to in taking proceedings. The defendant in a baseless or vexatious action could not even recover his costs thus indirectly, and the indirect costs given to a plaintiff under the name of damages were often inadequate and uncertain. Costs were first given under the Statute of Gloucester (1277, 6 Edward I. c. 1), which enacted that "the demandant shall recover damages in an assize of novel disseisin and in writs of mort d'ancestor, cosinage, aiel and beziel, and further that the demandant may recover against the tenant the costs of his writ purchased together with the damages above said. And this act shall hold in all cases when the party is to recover damages." The words "costs of his writ" were extended to mean all the legal costs in the suit. The statute gave costs, wherever damages were recovered, and no matter what the amount of the damages may be. Costs were first given to a defendant by the Statute of Marlbridge (1267) in a case relating to wardship in chivalry (52 Henry III. C. 6); but costs were not given generally to successful defendants until 1531 (23 Henry VIII. c. 15), when it was enacted that "if in the actions therein mentioned the plaintiff after appearance of the defendant be non-suited, or any verdict happen to pass by lawful trial against the plaintiff, the defendant shall have judgment to recover his costs against the plaintiff, to be assessed and taxed at the discretion of the court, and shall have such process and execution for the recovery and paying his costs against the plaintiff, as the plaintiff should or might have had against the defendant, in case the judgment had been given for the plaintiff." In 1606 by 4 James I. c. 3, this "good and profitable law" was extended to other actions not originally specified, although within the mischief of the act, so that in any action wherein the plaintiff might have costs if judgment were given for him, the defendant if successful should have costs against the plaintiff. The policy of these enactments is expressed to be the discouragement of frivolous and unjust suits. This policy was carried out by other and later acts. The Limitations Act 1623, S 6, ordered that if the plaintiff in an action of slander recovered less than 40s. damages, the plaintiff should be allowed no more as costs than he got as damages. By 43 Elizabeth c. 6 it was enacted that in any personal action not being for any title or interest in land, nor concerning the freehold or inheritance of lands nor for battery, where the damages did not amount to 40s. no more costs than damages could be allowed. By 3 & 4 Vict. c. 24 (Lord Denman's Act 1840), where the plaintiff in an action of tort recovered less than 40s., he was not allowed costs unless the judge certified that the action was really brought to try a right besides the right to recover damages, or that the injury was wilful or malicious.

All these enactments have been superseded by the Judicature Acts, but in the case of slander on women the provisions of the act of 1623 were re-enacted in the Slander of Women Act 1891.

_Supreme Court._--The general rule now in force in the Supreme Court of Judicature is as follows:--"Subject to the provisions of the Judicature Acts and the rules of the court made thereunder, and to the express provision of any statute whether passed before or after the 14th of August 1890, the costs of and incident to all proceedings in the Supreme Court, including the administration of estates and trusts, shall be in the discretion of the court or judge, and the court or judge shall have full power to determine by whom and to what extent such costs are to be paid. Provided (1) that nothing herein contained shall deprive an executor, administrator, trustee or mortgagee who has not unreasonably carried on or resisted any proceedings of any right to costs out of a particular estate or fund to which he would be entitled under the rules hitherto (i.e. before 1883) acted upon in the chancery division as successor of the court of chancery; (2) that where an action, cause, matter or issue is tried with a jury, the costs shall follow the event unless the judge who tried the case or the court shall for good cause otherwise order." (R.S.C., O. 65, r. 1.)

The rule above stated applies to civil proceedings on the crown side of the king's bench division, including mandamus, prohibition _quo warranto_, and certiorari (_R._ v. _Woodhouse_, 1906, 2 K.B. 502, 540); and to proceedings on the revenue side of that division (O. 68, r. 1); but it does not apply to criminal proceedings in the High Court, which are regulated by the crown office rules of 1906, or by statutes dealing with particular breaches of the law, and as to procedure in taxing costs by O. 65, r. 27, of the Rules of the Supreme Court.

The rule is also subject to specific provision empowering the courts to limit the costs to be adjudged against the unsuccessful party in proceedings in the High Court, which could and should have been instituted in a county court, e.g. actions of contract under L100, or actions of tort in which less than L10 is recovered (County Courts Act 1888, SS 65, 66, 116; County Courts Act 1903, S 3).

For instance, in actions falling within the Public Authorities Protection Act 1893 against public bodies or officials, the defendant, if successful, is entitled to recover costs as between solicitor and client unless a special order to the contrary is made by the court; and under some statutes still unrepealed, double or treble costs are to be allowed. Besides the rules above stated, there is also a provision, adopted from the practice of courts of equity, that if tender was made before action of a sum sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff's just demand and is followed by payment into court in the action of the sum tendered, the court will make the plaintiff pay the costs of action as having been unnecessarily brought.

Costs of interlocutory proceedings in the course of a litigation are sometimes said to be "costs in the cause," that is, they abide the result of the principal issue. A party succeeding in interlocutory proceedings, and paying the costs therein made "costs in the cause," would recover the amount of such costs if he had a judgment for costs on the result of the whole trial, but not otherwise. But it is usual now not to tax the costs of interlocutory proceedings till after final judgment.

_Taxation._--When an order to pay the costs of litigation is made the costs are taxed in the central office of the High Court, unless the court when making the order fixes the amount to be paid (R.S.C., O. 65, r. 23). Recent changes in the organization for taxing have tended to create a uniformity of system and method which had long been needed.

The taxation is effected, under an elaborate set of regulations, by reference to the prescribed scales, and on what is known as the lower scale, unless the court has specially ordered taxation on the higher scale (R.S.C., O. 65, rr. 8, 9, appendix N).