CHAPTAL
582
CHAPTER
Chaptal, Jean-Antoine, Comte de Chantelotjp,
technical chemist and statesman ; b. at Nogaret, Lo-
zere, France, 4 June, 1756; d. Paris, 30 July, 1832.
He graduated as doctor of medicine from the Mont-
pellier University in 1777. In 1781, he filled the
newly established chair of chemistry at the same uni-
versity, and established chemical works there, which
acquired a European celebrity. Refusing to yield to
the solicitations of the King of Spain or of President
Washington, he prosecuted his work in France
through the stormy times of the Revolution, up to
the days of the Restoration. In 1793, he assumed
charge of the Grenelle saltpetre works, where he
greatly improved the manufacture of gunpowder.
In the Polytechnic School of Paris he was given the
chair of organic (vegetable) chemistry. After the
fall of Robespierre, he was placed in charge of the
reorganization of the Montpellier University, again
taking his old chair of chemistry. Upon the founda-
tion of the French Institute, he was admitted as
member. He returned to Paris, and established other
chemical works near the city. Under the Consulship
of Napoleon, he was called to the Council of State,
and later became Minister of the Interior. His work
in this department was very extensive, including the
establishment of commercial exchanges, of cham-
bers of commerce, the reorganization of loan offices
(monts-de-piitc), the introduction of productive
labour in prisons, and many other advances in local
Government. He introduced the Sisters of Charity
into the hospital service; regulated the mineral
water industry, of which the present French Govern-
ment takes very full cognizance, and arranged for the
exposition of industrial products for five years. He
established the study of viniculture at the Luxem-
bourg. Roads and canals received his attention; the
roads over the Simplon and Mont-Cenis Passes are
largely his work. He was in the Ministry from 1S00
to 1804. When Napoleon became emperor he made
Chaptal senator, Grand Officer of the Legion of
Honour in 1806, and, soon after, treasurer of the
Senate and Count of the Empire. During the Hun-
dred Days, the general control of manufacture and
commerce was entrusted to him. During the Restora-
tion, he was member of the Academy of Sciences in
the chemical section. In 1819, he entered the Cham-
ber of Peers.
His technical activity covered a wide field, such as improvements in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, saltpetre for gunpowder, beet-root sugar, wine, dye- ing, bleaching and other things. His principal printed works, some eleven volumes, were published from 1790 to 1823. Chaptal occupies a peculiarly inter- esting position in the long list of Catholic scientists. His career covered the stormy period of the French Revolution, and, more fortunate than the brilliant Lavoisier, he was spared to prosecute his useful work. The seeking of his services by Washington in the new republic, although he did not yield to the solicitation, brings him the nearer to Americans. He was a worker on the technical side of chemistry, supple- menting the theoretical investigations of Lavoisier, and developing the field of chemical manufacture, which to-day is its all-important division.
T. O 'Conor Sloane.
Chapter. — The name Chapter Lat. capitidum),
designating certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies, is said to In' derived from the chapter of the rule book, which it was the custom In read in the assemblies of monks. By degrees the meeting itself was called the chapter and the place of meeting the chapter house. From these conventual chapters or meetings of monks for the transaction of business connected with their monasteries or orders, the designation passed over to somewhat analogous assemblies of other ecclesiastics. Hence we speak of collegiate
chapters and cathedral chapters. In general a chap-
ter may be defined as an association of clerics of a
certain church forming a moral body and instituted
by ecclesiastical authority for the purpose of promot-
ing the divine worship by means of choir service.
If it be a cathedral chapter, however, its principal
object is to assist the bishop in the government of
his diocese, and the choir service is only secondary.
Members of chapters are called canons.
Origin and Development. — From the earliest times the priests and deacons of the cathedral city aided the bishop in conducting ecclesiastical affairs. Considered as a body, these clerics were called the Presbyterium. The custom often obtained of bishop and clergy occupying a common dwelling, and this fact, joined with the example of the monks, led to a uniform method of life. About the end of the fourth century St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, reduced this common life to a more perfect form, and when, later, many of his clerics themselves be- came bishops, they introduced similar rules in their churches. In Spain, Italy, and England (Bede, Hist. Eccl., I, xxvii) early traces are found of this common life of the bishop and his priests. Among the Franks, especially, St. Chrodegang, Bishop of Metz (d. 766), formed his clergy into a community bound by a rule, which was, however, distinct from that of regulars. From this rule or canon, the members of the body derived their name of canons. Later on other larger churches, in imitation of the cathedral, adopted a similar mode of life, and hence arose the distinction between canons of cathedral and collegiate churches, some of whom were secular and some regular. The main object of the last-named capitular bodies is to promote the splendour of God's worship by choir service. This article will treat particularly of cathe- dral chapters.
Constitution of Cathedral Chapters. — A cathe- dral chapter constitutes a moral body or corporation. Inasmuch as it is an ecclesiastical corporation it can be erected only by the pope, according to the prevail- ing discipline. The chapter can be considered as forming one body with the bishop, in as far as it con- stitutes his senate and aids him in the government of his diocese; or as forming a body distinct from the bishop, having its own regulations and interests. Viewed under the first aspect the cathedral chapter has the bishop for its head; under the last, it has its own proper superior. Taking the chapter in its strict sense, however, canonists generally declare that the bishop must always be distinguished from it; nor can he be called a member of the chapter. Anciently, the principal dignitary of the chapter was the arch- deacon, but from the eleventh century the dean, who was also archpriest, had the internal government of the chapter. In some countries this dignitary is called the provost. The collation to canonries, by common law, pertains to the bishop and the chapter conjointly, unless in the case of such canonships as are papal reservations. The nomination of the head of the chapter belongs to the pope. In some coun- tries, as Austria, Bavaria, Spain and until recently France, the Government, in virtue of concordats or ancient privileges, has the right of nomination to some or all of the vacant canonries.
Officl\ls of the Chapter. — At the head of the chapter as a corporate body, is a president who, as before said, is called in different countries by various names, though the prevailing one is that of dean. The duty of this official is to convoke the chapter and preside over it. He is also to see that the canonical
statutes are observed in all that relates to capitular
meetings and the choir service. The chapter ap- points a treasurer, a secretary, and a sacristan. The Council of Trent decreed (Sess. V. Cap. i' that a canon theologian should lie constituted in cathedral churches. His office is to explain the Holy Scriptures
