in Hebrew, בוכב. Under the name of stars, the ancient Hebrews comprehended all the heavenly bodies, constellations, and planets; in a word, all the luminaries, the sun and moon excepted. The number of the stars was looked upon as infinite. And the Psalmist, to exalt the power and magnificence of God, says, that he numbers the stars and calls them by their names; and so are they put to express a vast multitude, Gen. xv, 5; xxii, 17; Exod. xxxiii, 13.

STAR-CHAMBER, the name given in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries to an English high court of justice, consisting of the members of the ordinary council, or of the privy council only, with the addition of certain judges, and exercising jurisdiction, mainly criminal, in certain cases. The origin and early history of the court are somewhat obscure. The Curia Regis of the 12th century, combining judicial, deliberative, and administrative functions, had thrown off several offshoots in the Court of King’s Bench and other courts, but the crown never parted with the supreme jurisdiction whence the subsidiary courts had emanated. When in the 13th century the council became a regular and permanent body, practically distinct from the parliament of estates, this jurisdiction continued to be exercised by the king in council. As the ordinary law-courts became more systematic and important, the indefinite character of the conciliar jurisdiction gave rise to frequent complaints; and efforts, for the most part fruitless, were made by the parliaments of the 14th century (e.g., in 15 Edw. II. and 2 Edw. III.) to check it. The equitable jurisdiction of the chancellor, which grew up during the reign of Edward III., flowed from this supreme judicial power, like the common law-courts under Henry II, but without drying up the original source. It is in the reign of Edward III. that we first hear of the “chancellor, treasurer, justices, and others” exercising jurisdiction in the “star-chamber” or “chambre de estoiles” at Westminster. In Henry VI.’s reign one Danvers was acquitted of a certain charge by the king’s council “in camera stellata.” Hitherto such Acts of Parliament as had recognized this jurisdiction had done so only by way of limitation or prohibition, but in ...

STARAYA RUSSA, a district town of Russia, in the government of Novgorod, 62 miles to the south of that city, on the river Polist, by means of which and Lake Ilmen it is brought into easy steamer communication with St Petersburg. Some brine springs, of no great strength, on the eastern side of the town, were used as a source for the supply of salt as late as 1865, yielding about 50,000 cwts. annually; at present they are used only as mineral waters, having a great resemblance to those of Kreuznach. Some thousands of visitors resort to them every summer, and owing to this circumstance Staraya Russa is better built and kept than any other town in Novgorod. The 13,100 inhabitants are supported chiefly by the summer-visitors. About 100 individuals in all employ themselves in brick-making, tanning, and sawing timber, and there is a trade in rye, oats, and flax shipped to St Petersburg to the value of about £50,000 per annum.

The name of Staraya Russa occurs in the Russian annals as far back as 1167. It was one of the minor towns of the republic of Novgorod, and suffered continually in the wars for possession of the region between Russia, Lithuania, and Livonia. It was afterwards annexed to Moscow.