church by having met with a prayer-book and ex- amined its contents, and thereupon studied for the ministry and was ordained by Bishop Provoost, in New York, deacon, 10 June, 1798, priest. 10 Nov., 1799. For several years he was occupied in missionary labors in northern and western New York, and also in teaching school. In 1805, on account of his wife's delicate health, he went to New Orleans, La., where he labored zealously and successfully in behalf of the P. E. church. Re- turning to the north in 1811, he became rector of Christ church, Hartford, Conn., which prospered under his ministrations. For years past, however, as his heart and mind were deeply concerned in the position and prospects of the west, he felt the urgent call to make that part of the country his field of labor. Accordingly, in 1817, he went to Ohio and began the work of establishing the church in that region. He organized several par- ishes, assuming the rectorship of three himself, and taking charge of the academy at Worthing- ton, Ohio, and, having been elected bishop, was con- secrated in Philadelphia, 11 Feb., 1819. He toiled on, amid trials and discouragements, and finally resolved to go to England to ask for aid. He met with great success, collecting about |30,000, with which on his return he purchased 8,000 acres of land and laid the foundations of a college and theological seminary. These, in grateful acknowl- edgment of the generous kindness of two English noblemen, were named Kenyon college and Gam- bier theological seminary. Disputes having arisen between the bishop and some of his clergy in re- gard to the proper use of the funds obtained from England and his power of jurisdiction, he resigned, in September, 1831, both the diocese and the presi- dency of the college. Still intent upon missionary labor, he removed farther west, took possession of a large tract of land in Michigan, and did mission- ary duty in the vicinity for three years, and in ]8i5 was chosen bishop of Illinois. He again vis- ited England, with the same object as before, and collected about $10,000 for educational work. His labors culminated in the founding of Jubilee col- lege, in 1838, at Robin's Nest, 111. A charter was obtained in 1847, placing the college entirely in the hands of the church. He was presiding bishop from 1843 till 1852. He was a man of indomita- ble perseverance and great strength of will, and was the most energetic and successful pioneer of the Episcopal church in the west. He published " A Plea for the West " (1826) ; " The Star in the West, or Kenyon College" (1828); "Defence of Kenyon College " (1831) ; and " Reminiscences : an Autobiography, comprising a History of the Prin- cipal Events in the Author's Life to 1847" (2 vols., New York, 1848).
CHASE, Pliny Earle, scientist, b. in Worcester, Mass., 18 Aug., 1820 ; d. in Haverford, Pa., 17
Dec, 1886. He was graduated at Harvard in
1839, and for many years a teacher in Philadel-
phia, and later occupied in mercantile pursuits.
In 1871 he became professor of philosophy and
logic in Haverford college, near Philadelphia.
Much of his time has been devoted to scientific
research, and his investigations include: 1. The
confirmation of Faraday's conjecture that gravity
must be capable of an experimental relation to
electricity, magnetism, and the other forces, so as
to bind it up with them in reciprocal action and
equivalent effect. For this investigation he re-
ceived in 1864 the Magellanic gold medal of the
American philosophical society. 2. Estimate of
the mass and distance of the sun, from the influ-
ence upon the barometer of the constrained relative motions of the earth and sun. 3. The discovery that " V," which is the ratio between the electrostatic and electro-magnetic units, is also the time integral of stellar rotation, thus completing
the demonstration of Faraday's conjecture. 4.
Extension of planetary and stellar harmonies, so
as to show that all the bodies of the solar system
are so arranged as to indicate harmonic vibrations
in an interstellar elastic medium. 5. Demonstra-
tion that the phyllotactic law, which Pierce, Hill,
and Wright had extended to planetary cycles, is
also operative in the vibrations of chemical atoms-
6. Application of the principle of conservation of
areas to all cases of nebular condensation, so as tc
show that the maximum gravitating acceleration
at the centre of a stellar system is always deter-
mined by luminous undulation. 7. Correction of
an error in regard to the density of the luminifer-
ous ether. 8. Correction of an error in regard to
the elasticity of the luminiferous ether. 9. Dem-
onstration of the Chase-Maxwell ratio. The re-
sults of these and other investigations have been
contributed to the " Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society" and other scientific jour-
nals, and have also appeared in the transactions of
the Royal society, French academy, and elsewhere.
He is a member of scientific societies both in the
United States and Europe, and has been vice-presi-
dent of the American philosophical society. His
published works include several arithmetics and
"Elements of Meteorology" (Philadelphia, 1884).
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CHASE, Salmon Portland, statesman, b. in Cornish, N. H., 13 Jan., 1808; d. in New York city, 7 May, 1873. He was named for his uncle, Salmon, who died in Portland, and he used to say that he was his uncle's monument. He was a descendant in the ninth generation of Thomas Chase, of Chesham, England, and in the sixth of Aquila Chase, who came from England and settled in Newbury, Mass., about 1640. Salmon Portland was the eighth of the eleven children of Ithamar Chase and his wife Jannette Ralston, who was of Scottish blood. He was born in the house built by his grandfather, which still stands overlooking Connecticut river and in the afternoon shadow of Ascutney mountain. Of his father's seven brothers, three were lawyers, Dudley becoming a U. S. senator; two were physicians; Philander became a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church; and one, like his father, was a farmer. His earliest teacher was Daniel Breck, afterward a jurist in Kentucky. When the boy was eight years old his parents removed to Keene, where his mother had inherited a little property. This was invested in a glass-factory; but a revision of the tariff, by which the duty on glass was lowered, ruined the business, and soon afterward the father died. Salmon was sent to school at Windsor, and made considerable progress in Latin and Greek. In 1820 his uncle, the bishop of Ohio, offered to take him into his family, and the boy set out in the
