the partial exemption was not obtained, and hence offences came to be divided into clergyable and unclergyable. According to the common practice in England of working out modern improvements through antiquated forms, this exemption was made the means of modifying the severity of the criminal law. It became the practice for every convict to claim and be allowed the benefit of clergy ; and when it was the intention by statute to make a crime really punishable with death, it was awarded " without benefit of clergy." A full account of the origin and progress of the system will be found in the 28th chapter of the fourth book of Blackstone s Commentaries. The benefit of clergy in cases of felony was abolished in the modifications of the criminal law by Sir Robert Peel in 1827 (8 Geo. IV.
c. 28).CLERMONT, or Clemont Ferrand, a city of France, formerly the chief town of Basse Auvergne, and now of the department of Puy-de-D6me, is situated on a hill composed chiefly of volcanic tufa, in the fertile district of Limagne, and surrounded on the S. and W. by a line of mountains, of which the Puy-de-D6me is the culminating point. It lies in 45 46 N. lat. and 3 5 E. long., and is 220 miles S. by E. from Paris. Since 1633 it is composed of the two towns of Clermont and Mount Ferrand, connected by a fine avenue of walnut trees and willows, two miles in length. The streets are generally ill laid out, narrow, and crooked ; and the houses are built of dull, grey lava, which had a gloomy effect until the fashion was introduced of cover ing them with white-wash. It has several handsome squares ornamented with fountains, and is well supplied with water brought by subterranean conduits from Royat, a league distant. The principal public building is the cathedral, a Gothic edifice of the 13th century, and though still unfinished its interior is considered one of the finest existing specimens of Gothic architecture. The church of Notre- Dame-du-Port is curiously decorated externally with mosaic work and bas-reliefs, and is very ancient parts of it dating from 870. Clermont has also a university-academy, a royal college, a botanic garden, a public library of 30,000 vols. (among which are several ancient MSS. of great value), museums of natural history and antiquities, two hospitals, and a theatre. The manufactures are woollen and linen goods, silk stockings, paper, cutlery, and jewellery. Being the entrepot for the produce of the surrounding depart ments, the town carries on a considerable trade in hemp, flax, corn, wine, cheese, wool, hides, and cattle. In the suburb of St Allyre, to the north-west of the city, is a remark able calcareous spring, the copious deposits of which have formed a curious natural bridge over a small stream. The population of Clermont in the end of the 18th century was about 16,000 ; in 1851, 30,566 ; and in 1872, 32,963.
Clermont (i.e., Clarus Mons or Clarimontium) is identified with the ancient Augustonemetum, the chief town of the Arverni, and it still preserves some remains of the Roman period. The present name occurs as early as the 8th century, but was at first applied to the castle alone. During the disintegration of the Roman empire Clermont suffered as much perhaps from capture and pillage as any city in the country ; but it preserved its municipal liberties down to the Middle Ages, and, even after it was incorporated in the domain of its bishops, maintained the rights of its communal charter. It was the seat of no fewer than seven ecclesiastical councils, held respectively in the years 535, 549, 587, 1095, 1110, 1124, and 1130 ; and of these the council of 1095 is for ever memorable as that in which Pope Urban II. first formally organized the great cnisade. In the national wars of the 15th and the civil wars of the 16th century the town had its full participation ; and in 1665 it acquired a terrible notoriety by the trial and execution of a number of robber chieftains who had infested the neighbouring district. The pro ceedings lasted six months, and the episode is still known as Us G-rands Jours de Clermont. Before the great Revolution the town possessed several monastic establishments, of which the most impor tant was the abbey of Saint Allyre, founded, it is said, by St Austrarnonius, the apostle of Auvergne, and the abbey of St Andre, where the counts of Clermont were interred. Among tho great men whom the town has produced are Gregory of Tours, Pascal, and Montlosier.
CLERMONT EN BEAUVOISIS, frequently but by mistake called Clermont sur Oise, a town of France, at the head of an arrondissement in the department of Oise, is situated about 36 miles by rail to the north of Paris, near a small tributary of the Oise, called the Breche. The town-hall and the church of St Samson date from the 1 3th century, and the hill on which the town is built is sur mounted by an old castle partly of the 10th or IHh, now transformed into a penitentiary capable of accom modating upwards of 1000 female prisoners. The principal industries are the manufacture of cotton goods and stained paper. Clermont was an important post in the Middle Ages. It was frequently taken and retaken in the wars of the English, and in 1437 it was surrendered to them as a ransom for the great national leader La Hire. In 1569 it was sold to the duke of Brunswick by Charles IX., and about thirty years later it was resold by the duchess of Brunswick to the duke of Lorraine. In 1595 it was captured by Henry IV., and in 1615 it was held by Conde". Cassini the astronomer was a native of the town. Popula tion in 1872, 5774.
CLERMONT-L'HÉRAULT, or Clermont de Lodève, a town of France, in the department of He rault, and about ten miles by rail south of Lodeve, is built on the slope of a hill which is crowned by an ancient castle and skirted by the Ydromiel, a tributary of the Ergue or Lergue. It owes its importance to its woollen manufacture, which was intro duced in 1678; and it also produces vinegar and vitriol, has quarries of building-stone, plaster, and lime, and deals in brandy, oil, cattle, and wool. Population in 1872, 5487.
