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CHALLONER CHALMERS 233 disputed matters of fact. The want of statu- tory qualification, defect of age or mental ca- pacity, bias or partiality for or against a party, a definite opinion formed or expressed upon the case, and relationship by blood or affinity to a party, are causes of challenge ; and in capital cases conscientious scruples against the death penalty. A challenge as a preliminary to a duel is forbidden by the laws of most of the United States, and in the American army by the articles of war. Any officer or soldier send- ing a challenge to another officer or soldier, or accepting a 'challenge if sent, incurs the penal- ty, if a commissioned officer, of being cashier- ed; if a non-commissioned officer or soldier, of suffering corporal punishment. Any officer who knowingly or willingly suffers any person whatsoever to go forth to fight a duel, is pun- ishable as a challenger, and seconds are not distinguished from principals. The punish- ment is at the discretion of the court martial, of which if any member is challenged by a prisoner, that member withdraws, and the court is closed to determine upon the relevancy or validity of the challenge. If the challenge is disallowed, the member resumes his seat. Challenge is also a hunting term, used of hounds or beagles, when, at first finding the scent of their game, they presently open cry ; the huntsmen then say they challenge. Chal- lenges are also used at the polls to prevent illegal voting. Any bystander can challenge a vote and demand that the person offering it be put upon oath. But this duty is usually assigned to persons selected by each party to attend the polls and watch the voters. CHALLONER, Richard, an English bishop and historian, born in the diocese of Chichester, Sept. 29, 1691, died in London, Jan. 12, 1781. Having become in his youth a Roman Catho- lic, he was sent by Dr. Gother to the English college at Douai in 1704, of which institution he was vice president from 1720 to 1730. He then returned to England, and served as a mis- sionary priest till Jan. 29, 1741, when he was consecrated bishop of Debra and coadjutor to Bishop Petre, whom he succeeded as vicar apostolic of the London district in 1758. The penal laws made his ministry one of danger, for he was actually indicted under them ; but he discharged his duties with unwavering zeal, and organized educational establishments for both sexes. His pen was never idle ; his works covered a wide range, and they contributed more than those of any other writer to form the language of religious thought among Eng- lish-speaking Catholics. His edition of the Bible (5 vols. 12mo, 1750) superseded the old Douai edition, and, though constantly modified, is the Bible still in use among Roman Catho- lifts. It was strictly reprinted for the first time at New York in 1870, only typographical errors being corrected. His "Think Well On't," " Grounds of the Catholic Doctrine," "History of the Protestant Religion," "Catholic Chris- tian Instructed " (in the preface to which he answered Conyers Middleton's "Letter from Rome "), "Meditations," " Lives of the Fathers of the Desert," " Garden of the Soul, a Manual of Prayers," and his translations of "The Fol- lowing of Christ " and " The Introduction to a Devout Life," have been reprinted frequently in England, Ireland, and America. His "Me- moirs of the Missionary Priests and other Per- sons of both sexes who suffered Death in Eng- land on account of their Religion " has been several times reprinted. Among his other works were "Britannia Sancta" (2 vols., 4to), "Unerring Authority of the Catholic Church," " British Martyrology," and a " Caveat against the Methodists." There is a life of him by Barnard (London, 1784), and a short one by Bishop Milner. CHALMERS, Alexander, a British author, born at Aberdeen, Scotland, March 29, 1759, died in London, Dec. 10, 1834. He was the son of a printer, received a classical education, and after his arrival in London, about 1777, he wrote for the press and edited many works and several periodical publications. His fame rests on the " General Biographical Dictionary " (32 vols., 1812-'17). He also prepared annotated edi- tions of the British essayists, of Shakespeare, and of the English poets from Chaucer to Cow- per. In 1820 he published an abridgment of Johnson's English dictionary by Todd ; the 9th edition of Boswell's Johnson in 1822; and a new edition of Shakespeare and one of John- son's works in 1823. Among his other editions were the complete writings of Fielding, Boling- broke, and Gibbon, besides a vast number of individual biographies. At different periods he was editor of the London "Morning Herald," associate editor of the "Morning Chronicle," and a frequent contributor, under the signa- ture of "Senex," to the " St. James's Chroni- cle," as well as to the critical reviews. CHALMERS, George, a British historian, born at Fochabers, Scotland, in 1742, died in Lon- don in 1825. He studied law at Aberdeen, accompanied an uncle to the North American colonies, and settled at Baltimore. At the commencement of the revolution he returned to England. He wrote " An Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain " (1782 ; new and enlarged ed., 2 vols., 1810), and " Political Annals of the United Colonies " (1780; new and enlarged ed., 2 vols., Boston, 1845) ; the lives of Defoe, Thomas Paine, and others ; and " Life of Sir David Lyndsay, and a Glossary of his Poetical Works" (3 vols., 1806). A second edition of his valuable " Life of Mary Queen of Scots, from State Papers," was published in 3 vols. in 1822. His princi- pal work is " Caledonia," a comprehensive historical account of Scotland from the earliest periods (3 vols., 1807-'24). This was to have extended to six volumes, and the fourth vol- ume was left in MS. CHALMERS, Thomas, D. D., a Scottish clergy- man and author, born at Anstruther, Fifeshire, March 17, 1780, died at Morningside, near