CHARTRES, Renaud de, cardinal-archbishop of Reims find chancellor of France, was born about 1380. Chartres rose rapidly in the church, having obtained the archbishopric of Reims at thirty-four. He joined the cause of the dauphin, afterwards Charles VII., and reached also the highest office in the state. He was chancellor of France when Joan of Arc presented herself before Charles at Chinon. Elated with his honours and jealous of a rival, he frowned on the pretensions of the maid of Orleans. When she fell into her enemies' hands, he proved himself worthy to have such a suffragan as the brutal bishop of Beauvais. Chartres, however, managed to retain the king's favour. He died in 1444.—R. M., A.
CHASDAI or CHISDAI, ben Isaac, ben Ezra, ben Sprot, lived at the court of Abderrahman III., surnamed Naser Ledin Allah, 912-961, the greatest of the Omayad khalifs of Cordova. Chasdai, who appears in Arab writings under the name of Iza ben Ishac, and of Hasdai ben Bashrout Israili, stood high in the favour of his sovereign, under whose sway the Moors of Spain reached nearly the zenith of their greatness in arms, arts, and commerce. "In the houses of the wuzier, Iza ben Ishac, and of Chalaf ben Abas el Zahrawi," says Condé, the historian of the Arabs in Spain, "both of them famous for their learning in all the sciences, and especially for their erudite works on medicine, conferences were held by men conversant with the physical sciences and astronomy, the science of numbers, and other studies. Both of them were physicians to the king; and they were so charitable that their houses remained open by day and night for the relief of the numerous afflicted that came to consult them."—(Conde, Hist. de la Domin. de los Arabes en Esp., part ii. chap. 81.) At the court of Abderrahman, the splendour of which attracted visitors from many remote countries, Chasdai had valuable opportunities for inquiring into the condition of his brethren in various parts of the world. Through some envoys from Chorassan, and others from Hungary, he was informed of the existence of the Jewish kingdom of the Khazars on the shores of the Caspian Sea. He resolved on placing himself in communication with the king of Khazaristan, in which, after several fruitless attempts, he succeeded. Joseph, the king of the Khazars, replied to Chasdai's inquiries, confirming the statement referred to in his letters respecting the Judaism of the chakans (rulers), and adding that, at the same time, the professors of other religions enjoyed equal privileges in the land of the Khazars. Both these documents—viz., the letter from Chasdai ben Sprot to the king, and that from the king to Chasdai—were known in Spain in the twelfth century, as they are mentioned by Abraham ben David Hallevi, whose Sepher Hakkebala was written in 1161.—(Zunz on the geographical writers of the Jews, in Asher's Benjamin of Tudela, page 245.) They were printed by Isaac Akrish at Constantinople in the sixteenth century, and by Buxtorf in the preface to his edition of Cusari, a philosophical work by the great Judah Hallevi. For a long time the genuineness of the correspondence between Chasdai and King Joseph—indeed the very existence of such a kingdom as that of the Khazars—was more than doubted by writers in good repute. Basnage, Wolf, Baratier, Buxtorf, are unanimous in rejecting the whole correspondence as a forgery; Jost, while acknowledging the authenticity of Chasdai's letter, is unwilling to admit the reply of King Joseph. The suspicions of these historians were nevertheless ill-founded. The genuineness of both letters is no longer impugned, since the principal objection—viz., the apocryphal character of a Khazarite kingdom—has been completely removed by the production of indisputable affirmative evidence from oriental and contemporary writers, all attesting that the kingdom of the Khazars played an important part in the history of Asia from the fourth to the eleventh century, and also that the chakan, Bulan, was converted to Judaism about the middle of the eighth century. By Jewish writers this conversion is ascribed to a Babylonian rabbi named Isaac Singari.—(Ibn Haukal; Massoudi, Karamsin; Frähn; Jost, Geschichte, vol. vi.; Carmoly, Revue Orientale III.; Zedner, Auswahl, p. 27; D'Herbelot, s. v. Khozar.)—T. T.
CHASE, Philander, D.D., bishop of the protestant episcopal church in Ohio, and afterwards in Illinois, for some years senior bishop in America, was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, in 1775, and graduated at Dartmouth college in 1795. In 1805 he was invited to commence preaching in the city of New Orleans where he organized a church, became its rector, established a school, and made missionary excursions in the vicinity. In 1811 he became rector of Christ church in Hartford, Connecticut; and in 1818 he was elected bishop of the newly-erected diocese of Ohio. He succeeded, not without the display of uncommon energy, in raising funds to found a college in connection with his diocese. It was established in the town of Gambler, and called Kenyon college. But no sooner was it in operation than difficulties arose between the professors and himself as bishop and ex officio president; and the final decision of the convention in 1831 being in favour of the former, he at once gave up all connection with the college; resigned his episcopate, and removed to Michigan where he began to labour again as a missionary. In 1835 he was elected bishop of Illinois, where the church was still younger and feebler than in Ohio. In this diocese he founded Jubilee college at Robin's Nest, Illinois. The remainder of his life was devoted to the interests of this new establishment, and the labours of his episcopate. Besides some pamphlets written to recommend his various projects, he published, in two volumes octavo, some very lively and faithful "Reminiscences" of his own labours and l ife. He died at Peoria, Illinois, in 1852.—F. B.
CHASE, Samuel, a judge of the supreme court of the United States, was in the practice of the law at Annapolis, Maryland, when the revolution began. He became a delegate to the provincial congress at Philadelphia in 1774, serving in that body for several years. In 1783 he was sent to England, as the Maryland agent to reclaim a large amount which had been intrusted to the bank of England. He removed to Baltimore in 1786; became a member of the state convention to consider the national constitution, 1790; and was appointed, the year after, chief-justice of the general court of Maryland. In 1796 he became associate-justice on the supreme bench of the United States, which office he held till his death in 1811. The memorable event of his history was in 1804, when, at the instigation of John Randolph, he was impeached for his conduct on the trial of Fries and Callender—a measure of mere party hostility. It resulted in acquittal by his judges and the senate, and that on almost every count triumphantly.—F. B.
CHASLES, Louis, born at Chartres in 1754. Originally a priest, he, like not a few of his order, adopted the principles of the Revolution in their most exaggerated form. He attached himself to Marat, and voted for the death of the king. Having been appointed by the convention commissioner to the army of the North, he took part in several engagements, and was wounded at Hondschoote. On his return to Paris he tried to continue Marat's journal, L'Ami du Peuple, with little success. He appealed in vain to the jacobin club, and was at last imprisoned, but again let loose by the directory. Ultimately his wife obtained a small situation, and he was admitted into the Hotel des invalides, where he died in 1826.—J. F. C.
* CHASLES, Michel, one of the most eminent and original of modern French geometers, born at Epernon on 15th November, 1793. Very few writers of any age have so largely united erudition and the finest spirit of criticism. The essay which first distinguished Chasles was the "Aperçu sur l'origine et le developpement des methodes en Geometrie," published in the memoires of the Academy of Brussels. It glances over the whole range of geometrical methods, ancient as well as recent, detects their philosophical character, discriminates and defines their range. The modern reform in geometry begun by Carnot, and carried so much farther by Poncelet, has been almost completed by Chasles in a later work—the famous "Traité de Geometrie Superieure." In one respect it is a revolt against Des Cartes—asserting the sufficiency of purely geometrical ideas in dealing with geometrical problems. These new views did not for a considerable time make way in this country; but latterly they have taken firm hold of what may be termed the Dublin or Trinity college school. The merits of this geometer have long been recognized in France. Chasles has been appointed one of the presidents of the Academy of Sciences.—J. P. N.
* CHASLES, Victor Euphemion Philarete, son of Louis, born in October, 1799, at Mainvilliers, near Chartres. Bound apprentice to a bookseller, a man who to the neglect of his business entered into political conspiracies against the Bourbons, young Chasles shared the opinions and feelings of his master, and early got into difficulties. He was arrested, but on account of his youth allowed to depart for England, where he completed his apprenticeship. After he had passed seven years amongst the English, studying their manners and literature
