the
English College at Douai, where he was ordained a priest in 1716, took
his degrees in divinity, and was appointed professor in that faculty. In
1730 he was sent on the English mission and stationed in London. The
controversial treatises which he published in rapid succession attracted
much attention, particularly his _Catholic Christian Instructed_ (1737),
which was prefaced by a witty reply to Dr Conyers Middleton's _Letters
from Rome, showing an Exact Conformity between Popery and Paganism_.
Middleton is said to have been so irritated that he endeavoured to put
the penal laws in force against his antagonist, who prudently withdrew
from London. In 1741 Challoner was raised to the episcopal dignity at
Hammersmith, and nominated co-adjutor with right of succession to Bishop
Benjamin Petre, vicar-apostolic of the London district, whom he
succeeded in 1758. He resided principally in London, but was obliged to
retire into the country during the "No Popery" riots of 1780. He died on
the 12th of January 1781, and was buried at Milton, Berkshire. Bishop
Challoner was the author of numerous controversial and devotional works,
which have been frequently reprinted and translated into various
languages. He compiled the _Garden of the Soul_ (1740 ?), which
continues to be the most popular manual of devotion among
English-speaking Roman Catholics, and he revised an edition of the Douai
version of the Scriptures (1749-1750), correcting the language and
orthography, which in many places had become obsolete. Of his historical
works the most valuable is one which was intended to be a Roman Catholic
antidote to Foxe's well-known martyrology. It is entitled _Memoirs of
Missionary Priests and other Catholicks of both Sexes who suffered Death
or Imprisonment in England on account of their Religion, from the year
1577 till the end of the reign of Charles II._ (2 vols. 1741, frequently
reprinted). He also published anonymously, in 1745, the lives of
English, Scotch and Irish saints, under the title of _Britannia Sancta_,
an interesting work which has, however, been superseded by that of Alban
Butler.

For a complete list of his writings see J. Gillow's _Bibl. Dict. of
Eng. Cath._ i. 452-458; Barnard, _Life of R. Challoner_ (1784);
Flanagan, _History of the Catholic Church in England_ (1857); there is
also a critical history of Challoner by Rev. E. Burton.

CHALMERS, ALEXANDER (1750-1834), Scottish writer, was born in Aberd