CHATELLEUAULT 



CHATHAM 



133 



for her intimacy with Voltaire, was Inirn at Paris, 

 17th December I7<>;. At an early period she dis- 

 played a great aptitude for the acquisition of 

 knowledge. She studied Latin and Italian with 

 hrr father ihe Baron de Breteuil, find subsequently 

 lieiook herself with zeal to mathematics and 

 the physical sciences. Distinguished alike for her 

 beauty and talent, she soon found a host of suitors 

 for her hand. Her choice fell on the Marquis du 

 Chfitelet-Lomont, but her marriage did not hinder 

 her from forming, in 1733, a tendresse for Voltaire, 

 who came to reside with her at Cirey, a chateau on 

 the borders of Champagne and Lorraine, belonging 

 to her husband. Here they studied, loved, quar- 

 relled, and loved again, for several years. In 1747, 

 however, she became ' not insensible to the brilliant 

 qualities ' of a certain M. Saint-Larnl>ert, a captain 

 of the Lorraine Guards; and the result was, that 

 the philosopher had to make room for the soldier, 

 and content himself for the future with being 

 the ' devoted and indulgent friend ' of his former 

 mistress. She died at Luneville, 10th Septem- 

 ber 1749, a few days after having given birth 

 to a child. Her first writing was Institutions 

 efe Physique (1740), a treatise on the philosophy 

 of Leibnitz. She also translated the Principiu of 

 Newton into French, accompanying it with alge- 

 braic elucidations. It did not, however, appear 

 till 1756. See VOLTAIRE, and the Life of the 

 Marquise by Capefigue ( 1868). 



Chatellerault, a town in the French depart- 

 ment of Vienne, on the river Vienne, 40 miles S. of 

 Tours by rail. A handsome stone bridge, with a 

 gateway built by Sully at one end, connects it with 

 a suburb on the other side of the river. It is a 

 smoky, dingy place, one of the chief seats of the 

 cutlery manufacture in France, and since 1820 has 

 had a government small-arms factory. Its river- 

 port makes it the entrep6t for the produce of an 

 extensive district. The title of Duke of Chatel- 

 lerault was conferred by Henry II. in 1548 on i 

 James Hamilton, Earl of Arra'n and Regent of 

 Scotland ; and it now is claimed by both the 

 Duke of Abercorn and the Duke of Hamilton 

 by the latter under an imperial decree (1864) of i 

 Napoleon III. Pop. (1872) 13,360; (1891) 18,112. I 



Chatham (Ang.-Sax. Ceteham), a parliament- 

 ury, and, since 1891, municipal borough, river-port, 

 fortified town, and naval arsenal, in the county of 

 Kent, situated on the right bank of the Medwuy, 

 at the upper part of its estuary, 30 miles ESE. 

 of London. It forms almost one continuous town 

 with Rochester (q.v.) on the west, but itself has 

 few objects of interest, being much of it ill built 

 and irregular, although great improvements have 

 been effected in recent years. The High Street is 

 1J mile long, parallel to the river. Chatham owes 

 its importance to its naval and military establish- 

 ments, situated at Brompton, a suburb on high 

 ground overlooking the Medway. There is also a 

 large convict establishment. Tlie Chatham forti- 

 fied lines are the frequent scenes of sham-fights and 

 reviews. Pop. ( 1851 ) 28,424 ; ( 1871 ) 45,792 ; ( 1891 ) 

 59,389, of whom 31,711 were in the municipal 

 borough. The borough sends one member to par- 

 liament. Traces of Roman villas have been found, 

 with Roman bricks, tiles, coins, and weapons. 

 The dockyard was founded by Elizabeth before 

 the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada. 

 Tn 1662 it was removed to its present site. In 

 1667 the Dutch, under De Ruyter, sailed up the 

 Medway, and, in spite of the fire from the castle, 

 destroyed much shipping and stores. 



In a military point of view, the lines of detached 

 forts connected with Chatham constitute a fortifica- 

 tion of great strength ; and the whole is regarded 

 as a flank defence for London in the event of an 



invader seeking to march on the capital from the 

 south coast. In 1888 an additional chain of forte 

 was being built by convict labour over a wider area. 

 The place also defended by some strong fort* on 

 the Medway. In and near Chatham are Fort 1'itt, 

 a military hospital and strong fort; Melville 

 Hospital, for marines ;md sailors; barracks for in- 

 fantry, marines, artillery, and engineers ; a park of 

 artillery ; and magazines, storehouses, and depot* 

 on a large scale. 



Chatham is one of the principal royal ship- 

 building establishments in the kingdom, and a 

 visit to it never fails to impress the stranger with a 

 sense of the naval power of England. The dock- 

 yard is nearly two miles in length, containing 

 several building-slips, and wet-docks sufficiently 

 capacious for the largest ships ; and the whole is 

 traversed in every direction by tramways for loco- 

 motives, with a gauge of 18 inches. Three great 

 wet-docks on reclaimed marsh land were completed 

 in 1883 after the labour of 17 years, and at a total 

 cost of about 3,000,000 (including cost of site ; as 

 also convict labour valued at 400,000). The re- 

 claimed land extended to 400 acres ; and the aggre- 

 gate water area of the three new wet-docks is 67 

 acres. A duplicate of Brunei's block-making 

 machinery is kept at Chatham to supplement that 

 at Portsmouth. In the navy estimates provision 

 is made for about 5000 artisans and labourers. A 

 statue of Lieutenant Waghorn, the pioneer of the 

 ' overland route ' to India, was erected near the 

 railway station in 1888; but Chatham's most 

 cherished memories are of Dickens and Gordon : of 

 the latter there is a statue, mounted on a camel, 

 by Onslow Ford ( 1890). Lord Rosebery opened a 

 new town-hall, English Renaissance in style, 23d 

 January 1900. 



Chatham, ( 1 ) atown of Ontario, on the Thames, 

 67 miles SW. of London by rail, with a number of 

 mills and foundries, soap and candle works, and an v x ^t*- 

 active trade in grain, pork, and wood. Pop. 9J052. 

 (2) A port of entry in the north of New Bruns- ' 

 wick, on the Miramichi, 6 miles NE. of Newcastle, 

 with a good harbour, ship-yards, foundries, a 

 Catholic cathedral, and a college. Pop. 5000. 



Chatham, WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF, some- 

 times styled PITT THE ELDER, one of the greatest 

 English orators and statesmen of the 18th century, 

 was the younger son of a country gentleman, Robert 

 Pitt of Boconnoc, in Cornwall, and was born 

 November 15, 1708. After an education at Eton 

 and Oxford, he travelled on the Continent, and on 

 his return obtained a cornetcy in the Blues. In 

 1735 he entered parliament for Old Sarum that 

 synonym for electoral corruption a borough then 

 belonging to his family. He espoused the side of 

 Frederick, Prince of Wales, then at deadly feud with 

 the king, and ottered as the leader of a number of 

 young discontented Whigs known as the ' Patriots' 

 a determined opposition to Walpole, who was at the 

 head of affairs. He was deprived of his commission 

 in consequence an insult and injury which only 

 increased the vehemence of his denunciations of the 

 court and the government. His influence, both 

 in and out of the House of Commons, increased 

 rapidly ; and Walpole being driven from power in 

 1742, the king, notwithstanding his hatrea of Pitt, 

 found it necessary, four years later, to allow of his 

 admission to a subordinate place in the Broad 

 Bottom administration ; subsequently he was ap- 

 pointed to the lucrative office of paymaster-general. 

 The Duchess of Marlborough, pleased with his 

 patriotism and powers of oratory, left him 10,000 ; 

 and later, Sir William Pynsent, struck with similar 

 admiration, left him his whole property, amounting 

 to some 3000 a year, and including what 1>ecame 

 the family place of the Pitts in Somersetshire. In 



