"His own perception of relations was like intuition, and hence he was sometimes uneasy at the embarrassments of students, even when involuntary, and much more, when the result of indifference or neglect, even though they might at times be increased by the rapidity of his own illustrations. I should have dreaded to be taken by Professor Chase to the blackboard, unless I had a good lesson, or a good conscience; and I could not have been sure that the latter would avail me without the former. But though I should have shrunk from the criticism, I should have respected the man. If I feared him in the lecture-room, I should honor him in his study; for there his warm heart would open to the story of my mental trials, and he would lead me, and help me to bear my burdens, with the kindness of an elder brother. He was exacting, but he was humane; he was impatient, but full of generous sympathies. These qualities might not always be tempered in the hurry of an occasion, but found their balance in the leisure and quiet intercourse of retirement. He was just and faithful. He had strong likes, but he would yield a favorite when he must; and strong dislikes, but he was incapable of hate. He stopped short of all extremes. You could move him easily either way on the current of the sympathies; but you could not tempt him to do wrong. As with the judgment, so with the sensibilities; they were led by conscience. As with the love of knowledge, so with the passions; they were subject to the love of truth. Whatever the occasional excitement of the intellect or the feelings, there was that in his mind which made it impossible for him to be an enemy of God or man. The soul had been harmonized by grace.
"Mr. Chase had a pious ancestry, and was brought up by Christian parents in the fear of God. An excellent mother, an invalid in his childhood, sat much in her arm-chair with the Bible on her knee. She used it with her little boy as she would a primer. Before he was four years old he had learned to read it, and read through the New Testament; and that particular volume now remains the best part of his estate. He was ever afterwards a diligent student of the Bible, and never ceased to honor the father and mother who had led him in this way of life. Filial reverence was one of his most beautiful and characteristic traits. It was a natural step to the fear of God; and the early fear of God is likely to be succeeded, according to the covenant, by that love of God which, when perfected, casteth out fear. During his third year at college he became, as he hoped, regenerate, and professed his faith in Christ. It is said that his religious awakening at that time was unusually deep; his awe of the Divine government and his sense of sin profound; his acknowledgment of God's justice and general sovereignty unreserved; and his trust in Christ for justification free and unqualified. That sheet-anchor saved him. It brought him up, subsequently, in the hour of danger. When the fitful and rough winds of the spirit of the power of the air beat upon him, and the swelling waters went over his soul, it dragged, but it held. It was cast within the veil. That New Testament in his childhood, that subjection to his parents, that conversion at college,—they were blessings to him and to us that can be measured only by eternity.
"It was a sorrowful day when, in the solitude and stillness of the winter vacation, we laid him in the tomb. It was sorrowful in that house where he had been the joy and hope of loving and trusting hearts, and had found rest from the cares and vexations of official life; where a sincere, unworldly, unartificial hospitality always reigned; whence tokens of kindness went freely round to friends, and compassionate charity to the poor. It was sorrowful to his colleagues, for we trusted him, his knowledge and judgment, his integrity and zeal, his faithfulness and efficiency, his independence and courage. We knew that he was above pretense, artifice, and duplicity; that in his keeping, righteous principle was safe, and over his application of it wisdom, benevolence, and firmness would preside. It was sorrowful to the village, for he was known to be a just man, a kind neighbor, and a good citizen. He was always ready to do what he could for the common welfare, and to bear his proportion of the common burdens. Every man in the community felt that he had lost a friend."
The scientific world could have no better demonstration of Professor Chase's rare mathematical talents than his text book on Algebra, which is still used in one department of the college.
Professor Chase married Sarah Thompson, daughter of Ichabod Goodwin, and granddaughter of General Ichabod Goodwin, of South Berwick, Me. He died at Hanover, January 7, 1851.
In "Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit," we find the following notice—furnished by the kindness of Rev. Daniel L. Furbur, D.D.—of a gentleman of great worth, whose early death was a serious loss to the college:
"David Peabody, the youngest son of John and Lydia (Balch) Peabody, was born at Topsfield, Mass., April 16, 1805. He was employed more or less upon his father's farm till he was fifteen or sixteen years of age; but as his physical constitution was thought to be not well suited to agricultural life, and as his early tastes were more than ordinarily intellectual, and he had a strong desire for a collegiate education, his father consented to gratify him; and, in the spring of 1821, he commenced the study of Latin at Dummer Academy, Byfield. The same year his thoughts were earnestly directed to the great subject of his own salvation, though he did not feel so much confidence in the genuineness of his religious exercises as to make a public profession of his faith until three years afterwards. In 1824, he united with the Congregational Church in his native place, and in the autumn of the same year joined the Freshman class in Dartmouth College.
"By severe labor during his collegiate course, he overtasked his naturally feeble constitution, and thus prepared the way for much future debility and suffering. He was graduated in 1828, on which occasion he delivered the valedictory oration.
"After spending a few weeks in recruiting his health at his father's, he became, for a short time, assistant editor of the 'New Hampshire Observer,' at Portsmouth, but before the close of 1828 he entered the Theological Seminary at Andover. In the spring of 1829, he accepted an invitation to take charge of a Young Ladies' Select School at Portsmouth; but in the autumn of 1830 his declining health obliged him to relinquish it, and to seek a Southern residence. He went to Prince Edward County, Virginia, and secured a situation as teacher in an excellent family,—that of Dr. Morton, and at the same time entered the Union Theological Seminary, of which the Rev. Dr. John H. Rice was the founder and principal professor. He remained in the family of Dr. Morton till he had completed the prescribed course of study, and was licensed to preach by the West Hanover Presbytery in April, 1831; after which he supplied the church at Scottsville for six months. So acceptable were his services, that the congregation would gladly have retained him as their pastor; but, as he preferred a Northern residence, he declined all overtures for a settlement, and returned to New England, with his health much improved, in 1832. In November of the same year he was ordained pastor of the First Church in Lynn, Mass. In September, 1834, he was married to Maria, daughter of Lincoln Brigham, then of Cambridge, but formerly of Southborough, Mass. In January, 1835, he was attacked with a severe hemorrhage, which greatly reduced his strength, and obliged him for a season to intermit his labors. Finding the climate unfavorable, he reluctantly came to the determination to resign his pastoral charge, with a view of seeking an inland home, when his health should be sufficiently recruited to justify him in resuming the stated duties of the ministry.