CHESELDEN, William, a distinguished surgeon and anatomist, born in Leicestershire in 1688. At the age of fifteen he commenced his medical studies in London, and at the early age of twenty-two he began himself to give lectures on anatomy, of which a syllabus was printed in 1711. Till then such lectures were very uncommon in England, having only been introduced by M. Bussiere, a French refugee, a surgeon of great eminence in the reign of Queen Anne. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1712, and contributed many papers to the Philosophical Transactions. One of the most remarkable of them is an account of the sensations of a youth of fourteen, blind from his infancy, on recovering his sight by the formation of an artificial pupil. This paper has been much quoted by metaphysical writers, and the operation, now common, was then perfectly new, and added greatly to Cheselden's reputation. In 1713 he published a work on anatomy which passed through several editions, and was long the text-book of that science in the medical schools. He became surgeon to St. Thomas,' and afterwards to St. George's and the Westminster hospitals. As an operator and skilful surgeon he was unrivalled, and has perhaps never been surpassed in dexterity and coolness; he is said also to have been as tender as he was skilful. He was almost the first surgeon to operate successfully in lithotomy. We are told that out of forty-two patients who came under his hands for this operation he lost but one—the present average being at least six in that number. In 1723 he published a work on the subject, and in 1733, his great work on the bones, which he dedicated to Queen Caroline, appeared. It was a series of plates of natural size with short descriptions, and was then unequalled in execution and accuracy. Cheselden was an intimate friend of Pope, and seems to have had a turn for rhyming himself; and he was more gratified by a compliment on a well-turned extempore stanza than by being called the first operator in Europe. In 1737, after a brilliant professional career, he retired from practice at the age of forty-nine—it is said partly in disgust at the jealousies and asperities to which his success had exposed him. In his leisure he undertook the duties of honorary surgeon to Chelsea hospital, which he retained for the rest of his life. His last contribution to science was a series of plates, with original remarks, appended to Gataker's translation of Le Dran's Surgery. In 1743 Cheselden was elected sheriff of London and Middlesex with Horatio Townsend, Esq. He, however, did not serve. In 1751 he suffered an attack of apoplexy, from which he recovered, but a return of the complaint caused his sudden death at Bath on the 10th of April, 1752, in his sixty-fourth year. Cheselden's reputation as a surgeon was solid, and will be lasting. In his character there was much to admire, though we cannot but regret that he should have prided himself on talents for literature and classics which he did not possess, instead of endeavouring to consolidate his reputation on the true basis of his professional knowledge and great skill.—E. L.
CHESNE, André du. See Du Chesne.
* CHESNEY, Francis Rawdon, was born in Ballyrea in the north of Ireland, on the 16th of March, 1789. Being destined from an early age for the army he was educated at Woolwich, whence he entered the Royal Military Academy in January, 1804. In November following he passed his examination for the royal artillery, and obtained a first lieutenancy on the 28th October, 1805. His regiment was sent to Guernsey in March, 1808, to protect the Channel Island harbours, where he remained some time on the staff as aid-de-camp to Sir A. Gladstanes, occupying himself in studying military tactics. Having obtained his captaincy in 1815, he was withdrawn from active service till 1821, when he was sent to Gibraltar, whence he returned in 1825, after the death of his wife. He now formed the project of exploring the Niger, but the expedition was abandoned, and Chesney then occupied his active mind in visiting the great battle-fields of Europe. He next went to Turkey, with the recommendation of Sir Sydney Smith, and was employed by the Porte in fortifying the passes of the Balkan; but his operations were interrupted by the treaty of Adrianople. He now travelled through Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt, the result of which was the publication of the first report on the steam navigation to India by way of the Red Sea. A subsequent tour of inspection was undertaken through Palestine and Arabia Petrea; and embarking on the Euphrates at Anah on a raft navigated by three Arabs, and accompanied by a Turk as an interpreter, and a young boy, he descended as far as the Indian ocean. The narrative of this exploration is one of the most interesting on record. Chesney returned to England in 1832, and in 1834, the house of commons having granted £20,000 for the further prosecution of experiments in relation to the two routes, an expedition was fitted out, the command of which was given to Chesney with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, who sailed from Liverpool on the 10th of February, 1835. After unexampled difficulties which occupied nine months, in transporting two iron steam vessels across the desert, they were launched on the Euphrates, and the expedition commenced to descend the river on the 16th of March, 1836. One of these vessels, the Tigris, with all her instruments, journals, and surveys, was wrecked in a hurricane, when Chesney, who was on board, with difficulty escaped, his too lieutenants and most of the crew being drowned. With undaunted courage Chesney persevered, determining to take on himself the risk of continuing the enterprise; and accordingly he proceeded with the other vessel and reached the Indian ocean in safety on the 19th of June. After making extensive surveys, he ascended the Tigris as far as Bagdad. Another ascent of the river was subsequently made and valuable surveys completed, and Chesney returned to England just after the death of William IV. In 1846 Chesney was made lieutenant-colonel, and in 1850 he published "The Expedition for the Surveys of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates," in two vols. He obtained his colonelcy the following year. He has since published observations on firearms and their probable effects in war, and a narrative of the Russo-Turkish campaigns of 1828-29.—J. F. W.
CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of, was born in London, September 22, 1694. He is famous in literary history as the author of those confidential letters to his son, which, while reducing gentlemanly behaviour to a systematic art, attempt the elaboration of a science of life so shrewd as to render its devotee the master of fools and knaves, even in matters of worldly interest and repute; so adapted to varying circumstances as to lessen the chances of a "checkmate" in any schemes of personal pleasure or ambition; so fascinating in its grace as to render ladies, courtiers, and princes unconscious servants of its will. Lord Chesterfield stands the representative of that class of "men of the world," who may more justly be said to exalt etiquette into a moral system with its own special characteristics, than to bring down morality to etiquette, and who, while sanctioning indulgences from which purer teachers justly shrink, at the same time uplift matters of behaviour into certain principles of conduct, without which sanctity itself cannot make manifest the perfection of its inward charms. In the absence of any corresponding English terms, Chesterfield must be described as l'homme comme il faut, who practised the art de savoir vivre. He studied at Cambridge, not without distinction. He could read Greek with ease; and pursued mathematics under the eminent blind professor, Saunderson, attending also classes in civil law and philosophy. The desire to excel others was very strongly implanted in his nature, and he felt great sympathy with the saying of Julius Cæsar, that he would rather be the first in a village than the second in Rome. This resolute wish to outstrip others was so powerful within him, that he applied it, according to his own confession, to vices as well as virtues. He referred the vices of his youth not to any natural inclination, but to a resolution not to be second to any "man of pleasure." "I always naturally hated hard drinking," he wrote in one of his confidential letters, "and yet I have often drunk with disgust, only because I then considered drinking as a necessity for a fine gentleman." With even-handed justice, however, he applied the same principle to his studies as well as to his enjoyments, and became sufficiently accomplished to enjoy the friendship of Pope, Bolingbroke, and Montesquieu. His confession about his pleasures must, therefore, be in fairness united to his other and nobler declaration—"I used to think myself in company as much above me, when I was with Mr. Addison and Mr. Pope, as if I had been with all the princes in Europe." On leaving the university, Chesterfield travelled in Holland, Italy, and France. He had learnt French from his nurse, and not only was a perfect French scholar, but so enthusiastic an admirer of the graceful side of the French character, that he reverenced a cultivated Frenchman as the type of a perfect man. He often said that the "perfection of human nature" was manifested in a Frenchman who united the manners and good breeding of his country, with a fund of virtue, learning, and good sense. He cultivated his character according to this favourite standard, more success-
