versed by a slightly reorganized court. He also wrote the opinion in the case of Te.xas vs. Wliite, in wliifh the nature of the Union and the effect thereon of the Civil War were clearly expound- ed, the nation being characterized as "an in- destructible Union composed of indestructible States." As Chief Justice, Chase presided over the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. He became separated from tlie Re- publican Party, and was in 1808 a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, while liis willingness to secure the same nomina- tion in 1872 em])hasized the weakness of his posi- tion. There is no doubt that as early as 1804 be had set his heart upon a Presidential nomination, and that he had to some extent intrigued against Lincoln, even while sitting in his Cabinet. In 1870 he was stricken with paralysis, from the effects of which he died. May 7, 1873, in New York. For bis biography, consult: Warden (Cincinnati, 1874), a work undertaken at Chase's own request; Scbuckers (New York, 1874) : and for the most recent and authoritative "Life," Hart (Boston, 1899), in the "American States- men Series."
CHASE, Samuel (1741-1811). An American
jurist, one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence. He was born in Somerset County,
lid., studied law in Annapolis, was admitted to
the bar in 1701 : soon attained a considerable
practice; and became prominent in colonial pol-
itics. He served for more than twenty years in
the General Assembly of Maryland; was promi-
nent as one of the 'Sons of Liberty' during the
Stamp .ct excitement: was one of the framers
of the 'Declaration of Rights of Maryland;' and
from 1774 to 1778 was a member of the Continen-
tal Congress. In 1773 he was associated with
Franklin and Carroll in an unsuccessful mission
to secure the good will of Canada, and soon after
his return advocated and signed the Declaration
of Independence. As agent for the State of
^Maryland, he went to England in 1783 to recover
the value of stock held by it in the Bank of Eng-
land before the outbreak of the war. and after
remaining a year succeeded in obtaining about
$050,000. In 1788 he was a member of the con-
vention which ratified the Federal Constitution
for Maryland, but was himself, along with Luther
Martin, opposed to that document. He was
appointed .ludgc of the General Court of Mary-
land in 1791, and .ludge of the Criminal Court
for Baltimore Covmty in 1793, and in 1796 be-
came, by Washington's appointment, an associate
justice of the United States Supreme Court. He
presided over the trials of Thomas Cooper. John
Fries, and Thomas Callender in 1800. and con-
ducted the two latter with such asperity and
apparent favoritism that the counsel for the de-
fendants indignantly withdrew. As a judge,
lluingb frequently presiding with finnness and
ability, he was unable to suppress or conceal his
decided political predilections, and on various
occasions, notably in Baltimore on May 2, 1803,
delivered what his political opponents regarded
as partisan harangues to the grand jury. This
harangue in Baltimore attracted the notice of
jirominent Democrats, who were then engaged in
a general movement to diijiinisb the influence
of the judiciary, and. on John Randolph's motion,
the House of Representatives pa-sse<l a resolu-
tion of impeachment in 1804. In the following
year the trial was conducted with much cere-
mony before the Senate, Chase being represented
by Luther Martin, R. G. Harper, Charles Lee,
P. B. Key, and .Joseph llo|)kinson, and the prose-
cution by John Kandoli)b, G. W. Campbell,
Joseph Nicholson, C. A. Rodney, John Boyle,
Peter Early, and Christopher Clark. By the
latter, eight articles were exhibited, two setting
forth Chase's oppressive treatment of Fries, two
more charging similar treatment of Callender,
two others charging an infringement of the laws
of Virginia in the Callender case, one relating
to alleged unbecoming and unfair conduct before
a Delaware grand jury, and the last calling Cliase
to account for his harangue before the Baltimore
grand jury. Chase was finally acquitted on all
but two charges — partisanship in the Callender
trial and 'electioneering' before the Baltimore
grand jury — and no article received tlie two-
thirds vote requisite for impeachment. This de-
cision has been regarded as of considerable sig-
nificance in the history of the American judici-
ary, serving as it did to discountenance im-
peachment trials unless based on really serious
grounds, and at the same time warning judges
to suppress all manifestations of partisanship
on the bench. After the trial, luitil his death.
Chase continued to serve as a member of the
Supreme Court. Consult an article "The Im-
peachment Trial of .Judge Samuel Chase" in the
Ainericun Law I'riicw, Xo]. XXXlll. (Saint
Louis. 1889), and Smith and Lloyd (reporters).
The Trial of Savitiel Chase (Washington, 1805).
CHASE', Thomas (1827-92). An American
educator, born in Worcester. Mass. He gradu-
ated in 1848 at Harvard ITniversity, studied at
the University of. Berlin and the College de
France, and was professor of Greek and T-atin
at Haverford College in 1855-75. From 1875 to
1880 he was president of Haverford. He was a
member of the American committee for the re-
vision of the New Testament, and a delegate to
the Stockholm Philological Congress of 1889. He
published Hellas: Her Monuments and Scenery
(1863), a Latin Grammar (1882), and editions
(1881) of Cicero on Immortaliti/ (1868). The
.T:nei(l (1869), Horace (1872), Four Books of
Liiy, and (1876) Juvenal and Persius.
CHASE, William Merritt (1849—). An
American painter. He was born in Franklin,
Ind., November 1, 1849. After studying un-
der R. F. Hays, in Indianapolis, and in the
schools of the National Academy of Design, he
painted with Piloty and Wagner at Munich
(1872), acquiring a thoroughly German method,
which at that time was bituminous an<l dark.
On his return to New York (1878) he l)egan to
change his style of painting, gradually clarifying
his color and sliowing an appreciation for the
work of the French school. One of the most
facile and brilliant technicians of the American
school. Chase succeeils equally well with figure,
])ortrait. and still life. He himself considers his
l)Cst work to te still life, of which remarkable
examples are one in the Pennsylvania .cademy
and an "English Cod" lately exhibited. Other
well-known works are "A Uroken Jug." "Ready
for a Ride" (1878. Union League Club. New
York), ".liee" (Art Institute. Chicago), and a
"Lady in Black" ( Mctropolilan Museum, New
York). He has received many medals, is a Na-
tional ,cademician, and has been president of
the Society of American Arti.sts.
