CHALLONER
564
CHALLONER
and paten were brought by the priest to the altar in a
sacculum or lintheum, which seems to have been the
ancestor of the present veil. The burse, which is
simply a cover used to keep the corporal from being
soiled, and which for that reason was known in Old
English as a "cor-
poras-case", is
somewhat older.
Several medieval
burses are still pre-
served in the col-
lection at Danzig.
Nowadays both
burse and veil are
usually made of
the same material
as that of the set
of vestments to
which they belong,
and they are simil-
arly ornamented.
The Chalice in Art. — From what has already been said it will be clear that the chalice, as the most impor- tant of all the ves- sels in church use, must have exer- cised an incalcula- ble influence upon the early develop- ments of the gold- smith's craft. Such monuments as the Ardagh chal- ice and the Tassilo chalice, both of Irish origin, stand almost alone in the information they afford of an otherwise unsuspected mechanical skill and richness of ornament, particularly in the matter of enamels, in a remote and barbarous age. The earliest documents connected with the life of St. Patrick reveal the fact that the artificers of chalices and bells had a certain status which in that rude age won respect for the arts of peace. The chal- ice in a particular way was identified with the priesthood. This sacred vessel, which now stands upon the priest's coffin during his obsequies, recalls the time when a small chalice of metal or of wax was buried with him in his tomb; and the chalice which is the recognized emblem of so many saints — e. g., St. John the Evangelist — suggests in many instances the promise made by Christ to His followers, "if ye shall drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt you". To attempt, to illustrate the characteristics of the artistic silver work in the different countries of Europe would take us too far. But it is much to be desired that by the favour shown to good material, skilful work- manship, and a pure type of art, the chalices constructed for the. liturgical use of the Church may still serve as an encouragement of all thai is lust in the craft of the worker in the precious metals.
History and Archeology. — Hefele, licifrape zur Kirch- engeschichte (Tubingen, 18641, II, 322-30; Koiiaci.t pe i, La Messe (Paris, 1886), Vol. IV, a work which con- tains by tar the !■■■ t . . .11, .r o nn of illustrations of medieval Havmbh in Kirchinhx. s. v. Kelch; Thalhofer, ZAturgik (Freiburg, lS n O>, I; Hook in the Jahrbuch of the Vienna IVntinl < ', .inmi.-nm. I V; \\ kiss in the MitthiUuriam of the Vienna Central Cieunii - 1. >n, IV; Recsens, fclrmcnls Inn. Iss ... I. ■• ;•_>. too. II, 320; i itte, h ,'■;- Kunst-Archaiogic (1.SS6), I; LlNAS, Oricrreric COBBLBTi 11 i.foirc (ic 1'Eucha-
I'aris, IsM) i, II, I'll 73; Berc.ner, Ilnndbuch der kirch- (Leipsig, 1905), 320-27; Williams, The Artx an, I i 'rafU at Spa i I vols., ] ondon, 1007).
Ecclesiastical Law. — Barbh rdj Uontaitlt, Ja mobtZter
-I Paris. 1SS7I; VAN DBR StAPHBN, Sacra
' In,. [90 I), 111, or, 110; Whin/,, ./■ talium (Ri
1 1 1 khkkt Thurston.
Challoner, Richard, Bishop of Debra, Vicar
Apostolic of the London District, author of spiritual
and controversial works, b. 29 Sept., 1691; d. 12 Jan.,
1781. This prelate, who, during the greater part of
the eighteenth century, was to be the leading figure
of English Catholicism, was not born of Catholic
parents, but was the son of a Presbyterian wine-
cooper of Lewes, Sussex, England. After his father's
death his mother became housekeeper to the Catholic
family of Gage, at Firle in Sussex. It is not known
whether she was already a Catholic, or whether she
was converted as a consequence of her new surround-
ings, but her boy was not received into the Church
till he was about thirteen years old. This was at
Warkworth, in Northamptonshire, the seat of another
well-known Catholic family, that of Holman. Lady
Anastasia Holman, wife of George Holman, Esq.,
was a daughter of the martyred Viscount Stafford,
and their chaplain, the well-known controversial
writer, John Gother, instructed Richard Challoner in
Catholic doctrine, and procvired for him a nomination
to a foundation at Douai College. The boy entered
college on 29 July, 1705 (Dicconson's Diary), and
spent the next twenty-five years there, first as
student, then as professor, and as vice-president.
His abilities enabled him to complete the usual twelve
years' course in eight years, and in 1708 he took the
college oath, binding himself to return to England,
when required, to labour on the mission. At the age
of twenty-one he was chosen to teach the classes of
rhetoric and poetry, which were the two senior classes
in "humanities"; and a year later his success as a
teacher justified his appointment as professor of philos-
ophy, a post which he held for eight years. Ordained
priest 2.8 March, 1716, he graduated Bachelor in Divin-
ity of the University of Douai in 1719, and in the
following year was chosen by the president. Dr.
Witham, to be his vice-president, an office which in-
volved the supervision of both professors and students.
At the same time he was appointed professor of theol-
ogy and prefect of studies, so that he had the direc-
tion of the whole course of studies.
His success as a teacher was probably due rather to his untiring industry and devotion to his work than to any extraordinary mental power, for he was never an original thinker, but his gift lay in enforcing the spiritual reality of the doctrines he was expounding. His fervent piety was his chief characteristic, and this appears even in his controversial works. In 1727 he defended his public thesis and obtained the degree of Doctor in Divinity. In 172S he published his first work, the little book of meditations so well known under the quaint title of "Think Well on't". He had long desired, however, to leave the college and to take up the harder work of the mission, and in 1730 he was at last allowed to return to London, where he threw himself with zeal into the laborious work of the ministry. Though the penal laws were no longer enforced with extreme severity, the life of the Catholic priest was still a hard one. Disguised as a layman, Dr. Challoner ministered to the small number of Catholics, celebrating Mass secretly in obscure ale-houses, cockpits, and wherever small gatherings could assemble without exciting remark. He was an untiring worker, and in the poorest quar- ters of the town, in the prisons and sponging-houses, he sought out souls to save. In his spare time he gave himself to study anil writing, and was thus able to produce several works of instruction and contro- versy. One of these, "The Catholic Christian in- structed in the Sacraments, Sacrifice and Ceremonies of the Church", led to trouble, for in the preface he assailed a recent work of Dr. Conyers Middle ton, an Anglican divine, who had attacked the Church. This gentleman so resented Dr. Challoner's reply that ho set the law in motion against him, and it was though! prudent for him to leave England for a time
