Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/398

 390 CHESTERFIELD INLET CHESTNUT turned in a few weeks, to assume the viceroy- alty of Ireland, where he distinguished him- self by a firm and enlightened administration. George II. recalled him from Ireland in April, 1746, and appointed him principal secretary of state. He retired from official life in 1748, but still continued to give attention to public affairs until incurable deafness caused him to pass into private life. In 1751 he introduced into par- liament, together with the earl of Macclesfield, the bill for the reformation of the calendar, in favor of which he made an elaborate and con- vincing speech. He was remarkable for spark- ling wit, elegant manners, solid talents, and attention to business. Besides his fame as a diplomatist and a statesman, he has a reputa- tion as the author of a remarkable series of letters on a large range of social, philosophical, literary, and political topics, written to his son, and published after his death by that son's widow. Their moral tone is low, their chief object being to inculcate a refined selfishness, but they contain many valuable suggestions on manners. A collection of his letters to other individuals, and of his speeches and miscel- laneous writings, has been published, full of wit, knowledge of the world, and tersely ex- pressed views of the public men of Europe. The best editions of Lord Chesterfield's letters and miscellanies are by Lord Mahon (London, 1845 and 1853). CHESTERFIELD INLET, an arm branching from the N. W. angle of Hudson bay, British America, 250 m. long, and 25 m. across at its widest part. It receives the waters of several rivers, and contains numerous small islands. CHESTER-LE-STREET (Saxon, Coneceostre), a parish and village of England, county of Dur- ham, on a Roman military road, and near an ancient Roman station, 6 m. N. of the city of Durham; pop. of the parish in 1871, 33,287. Its parish church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, whose remains are said to have rested here for 113 years before their removal to Durham, and to St. Mary, is an imposing Gothic building, with a handsome tower, and a spire 156 ft. high. It contains the stone effigies of the lords of Lumley, 14 in number, from Lyulph, the Saxon founder of the family, to the time of Elizabeth? The see of a bishop was removed hither from Lindisfarne about 880, and remained till 995, when the prelate and clergy were ex- pelled by the Danes. The bishopric was then fixed at Durham. The village is lighted with gas, and contains manufactories of rope, nails, and tiles. There are coal mines, brass and iron works, corn mills, paper mills, fire-brick yards, a steam engine manufactory, and a productive salt spring in the vicinity. Near here also are Lum- ley castle, a seat of the earl of Scarborough, Lambton hall, belonging to the earl of Durham, and Ravensworth castle. The first mentioned is an interesting building, supposed to have been founded in the 14th century. CHESTNUT (caxtanea vesca, Linn. ; castanea vulgaris, Lamb.), a large and handsome tree, valuable both for its timber and fruit, and growing wild in Europe and the United States. Its foliage is ample and graceful, with long patulous boughs ; oblong-lanceolate leaves, ser- rate with pointed teeth, and smooth and green on both sides; clusters of sterile flowers in long, cream-colored, cylindrical catkins; and fertile flowers two or three together in an ovoid prickly involucre at the base of the catkins. There is no corolla ; the calyx is 5 or 6 lobed, placed on the summit of the 3-7 celled ovary, and enclosing 5-20 stamens, and 3-7 bristle- shaped stigmas; the nut is ovoid, coriaceous, and farinaceous. The chestnut is among the most beautiful of forest trees, and is conspicu- ous in the landscapes of Salvator Rosa and oth- er masters. It is common in the forests of southern Europe from the Caucasus to the At- lantic, preferring deep sandy soils and the sides of mountains, and avoiding marshy regions. It is said to have been found by the Romans Chestnut (Castanea vesca). first at Castanea, a town of Thessaly, near the mouth of the Peneus, whence the fruit was named by them Castanea nux. Some of the oldest and largest trees in the world are of this species. One of the most famous is that on Mount Etna, which has often been described by travellers, and can be seen from Aci Reale. It is 160 ft. in circumference, and has a hol- low trunk, the interior of which serves as a retreat for shepherds and their flocks. It is called the hundred-horse chestnut, from a tra- dition that Joanna of Aragon once visited it, accompanied by all the nobility of Catania, and that the whole party found protection beneath it from a sudden storm. One of the oldest chestnut trees in England is at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, which was a boundary mark in the reign of King John; and in France there is a remarkable one at Sancerre, which is believed to be about 1,000 years old, and is still very productive. The chestnut furnishes an excellent and durable timber, which has been thought to be the material of the roof of