The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 14 out of 53
approaches the sun, and which diminishes as it withdraws from it; these
bodies are very numerous, have their respective periods of revolution,
which have been in many cases determined by observation.
COMINES, a French town in the dep. of Nord, France, 15 m. SW. of
Courtrai.
COMINES, PHILIPPE DE, a French chronicler, born at Comines; was of
Flemish origin; served under Charles the Bold, then under Louis XI. and
Charles VIII.; author of "Memoires," in seven vols., of the reigns of
these two monarchs, which give a clear and faithful picture of the time
and the chief actors in it, but with the coolest indifference as to the
moral elements at work, with him the end justifying the means, and
success the measure of morality (1443-1509).
COMITIA, constitutional assemblies of the Roman citizens for
electing magistrates, putting some question to the vote of the people,
the declaration of war, &c.
COMITY OF NATIONS, the name given for the effect given in one
country to the laws and institutions of another in dealing with a native
of it.
COMMANDITE, SOCIETE EN, partnership in a business by a supply of
funds, but without a share in the management or incurring further
liability.
COMMELIN, ISAAC, Dutch historian; wrote the "Lives of the
Stadtholders William I. and Maurice" (1598-1676).
COMMENTARIES OF JULIUS CAESAR, his memoirs of the Gallic and Civil
Wars, reckoned the most perfect model of narration that in such
circumstances was ever written, and a masterpiece.
COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY, a committee of nine created by the
French Convention, April 6, 1793, to concentrate the power of the
executive, "the conscience of Marat, who could see salvation in one thing
only, in the fall of 260,000 aristocrats' heads"; notable, therefore, for
its excesses in that line; was not suppressed till Oct. 19, 1796, on the
advent of the Directory to power.
COM`MODUS, LUCIUS AURELIUS, Roman emperor, son and successor of
Marcus Aurelius; carefully trained, but on his father's death threw up
the reins and gave himself over to every form of licentiousness; poison
administered by his mistress Marcia being slow in operating, he was
strangled to death by a hired athlete in 162.
COMMON LAW is law established by usage and confirmed by judicial
decision.
COMMON-SENSE, PHILOSOPHY OF, the philosophy which rests on the
principle that the perceptions of the senses reflect things as they
actually are irrespectively of them.
COMMUNE, THE, a revolutionary power installed in Paris after the
"admonitory" insurrection of March 18, 1871, and overthrown in the end of
May.
COMMUNISM, community of property in a State.
COMNE`NUS, name of a dynasty of six emperors of Constantinople.
COMO, LAKE OF, one of the chief lakes of Lombardy and the third in
size, at the foot of the Pennine Alps, 80 m. long and 21/2 at greatest
breadth; is traversed by the Adda, and is famed for the beauty and rich
variety of its scenery.
COMORIN, CAPE, a low sandy point, the most southerly of India, from
which the seaman is beckoned off by a peak 18 m. inland.
COMORO ISLES (63), an archipelago of four volcanic islands at the N.
of the channel of Mozambique; under the protectorate of France since
1886; the people are Mohammedans, and speak Arabic.
COMPARETTI, an Italian philologist; his writings are numerous; _b_.
1835.
COMPIEGNE (14), a quiet old town in the dep. of Oise, 50 m. NE. of
Paris; has some fine old churches, but the chief edifice is the palace,
built by St. Louis and rebuilt by Louis XIV., where the marriage of
Napoleon to Maria Louisa was celebrated; here Joan of Arc was made
prisoner in 1430, and Louis Napoleon had hunting ground.
COMPTON, HENRY, bishop of London, son of the Earl of Northampton;
fought bravely for Charles I.; was colonel of dragoons at the
Restoration; left the army for the Church; was made bishop; crowned
William and Mary when the archbishop, Sancroft, refused; _d_. 1713.
COMRIE (8), a village in Perthshire, on the Earn, 20 m. W. of Perth,
in a beautiful district of country; subject to earthquakes from time to
time; birthplace of George Gilfillan.
COMTE, AUGUSTE, a French philosopher, born at Montpellier, the
founder of POSITIVISM (q. v.); enough to say here, it consisted
of a new arrangement of the sciences into Abstract and Concrete, and a
new law of historical evolution in science from a theological through a
metaphysical to a positive stage, which last is the ultimate and crowning
and alone legitimate method, that is, observation of phenomena and their
sequence; Comte was first a disciple of St. Simon, but he quarrelled with
him; commenced a "Cours de Philosophie Positive" of his own, in six
vols.; but finding it defective on the moral side, he instituted a
worship of humanity, and gave himself out as the chief priest of a new
religion, a very different thing from Carlyle's hero-worship (1795-1857).
COMUS, the Roman deity who presided over festive revelries; the
title of a poem by Milton, "the most exquisite of English or any masks."
COMYN, JOHN (the Black Comyn), Lord of Badenoch, a Scottish noble of
French descent, his ancestor, born at Comines, having come over with the
Conqueror and got lands given him; was one of the competitors for the
Scottish crown in 1291, and lost it.
COMYN, JOHN (the Red Comyn), son of the preceding; as one of the
three Wardens of Scotland defended it against the English, whom he
defeated at Roslin; but in 1304 submitted to Edward I., and falling under
suspicion of Bruce, was stabbed by him in a monastery at Dumfries in
1306.
CONCEPCION (24), a town in Chile, S. of Valparaiso, with its port,
Talcahuano, 7 m. off, one of the safest and most commodious in the
country, and ranks next to Valparaiso as a trading centre.
CONCEPTION OF OUR LADY, an order of nuns founded in Portugal in
1484; at first followed the rule of the Cistercians, but afterwards that
of St. Clare.
CONCIERGERIE, a prison in the Palais de Justice, Paris.
CONCLAVE, properly the room, generally in the Vatican, where the
cardinals are confined under lock and key while electing a Pope.
CONCORD, a town in U.S., 23 m. NW. of Boston; was the residence of
Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne; here the first engagement took place in
the American war in 1775.
CONCORD (17), capital of New Hampshire, U.S., a thriving trading
place.
CONCORDAT, THE, a convention of July 15, 1801, between Bonaparte and
Pius V., regulative of the relations of France with the Holy See.
CONCORDE, PLACE DE LA, a celebrated public place, formed by Louis
XV. in 1748, adorned by a statue of him; at the Revolution it was called
Place de la Revolution; here Louis XVI. and his queen were guillotined.
CONCORDIA, the Roman goddess of peace, to whom Camillus the dictator
in 367 B.C. dedicated a temple on the conclusion of the strife between
the patricians and plebeians.
CONDE, HENRY I., PRINCE OF, fought in the ranks of the Huguenots,
but escaped the massacre of St. Bartholomew by an oath of abjuration
(1552-1588).
CONDE, HOUSE OF, a collateral branch of the house of Bourbon, the
members of which played all along a conspicuous role in the history of
France.
CONDE, LOUIS I., PRINCE OF, founder of the house of Conde, a brave,
gallant man, though deformed; distinguished himself in the wars between
Henry II. and Charles V., particularly in the defence of Metz; affronted
at court, and obnoxious to the Guises, he became a Protestant, and joined
his brother the king of Navarre; became the head of the party, and was
treacherously killed after the battle of Jarnac; he had been party,
however, to the conspiracy of Amboise, which aimed a death-blow at the
Guises (1530-1569).
CONDE, LOUIS II., PRINCE OF, named "the Great Conde," born at Paris;
was carefully educated; acquired a taste for literature, which stood him
in good stead at the end of his career; made his reputation by his
victory over the Spaniards at Recroi; distinguished himself at Fribourg,
Nordlingen, and Lens; the settlement of the troubles of the Fronde
alienated him, so that he entered the service of Spain, and served
against his country, but was by-and-by reconciled; led the French army to
success in Franche-Comte and Holland, and soon after retired to
Chantilly, where he enjoyed the society of such men as Moliere, Boileau,
and La Bruyere, and when he died Bossuet pronounced a funeral oration
over his grave (1621-1686).
CONDE, LOUIS JOSEPH, PRINCE DE, born at Chantilly; served in the
Seven Years' War; attended in the antechamber in the palace when Louis
XV. lay dying; was one of the first to emigrate on the fall of the
Bastille; seized every opportunity to save the monarchy; was declared a
traitor to the country, and had his estates confiscated for threatening
to restore Louis XVI.; organised troops to aid in the Restoration;
settled at Malmesbury, in England, during the Empire; returned to France
with Louis XVIII. (1736-1818).
CONDILLAC, ETIENNE BONNOT, a French philosopher, born at Grenoble,
of good birth; commenced as a disciple of Locke, but went further, for
whereas Locke was content to deduce empirical knowledge from sensation
and reflection, he deduced reflection from sensation, and laid the
foundation of a sensationalism which, in the hands of his successors,
went further still, and swamped the internal in the external, and which
is now approaching the stage of self-cancelling zero; he lived as a
recluse, and had Rousseau and Diderot for intimate friends (1715-1780).
CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY, the doctrine that only believers in Christ
have any future existence, a dogma founded on certain isolated passages
of Scripture.
CONDORCET, MARQUIS DE, a French mathematician and philosopher, born
near St. Quentin; contributed to the "Encyclopedie"; was of the
Encyclopedist school; took sides with the Revolutionary party in the
interest of progress; voted with the Girondists usually; suspected by the
extreme party; was not safe even under concealment; "skulked round Paris
in thickets and stone-quarries; entered a tavern one bleared May morning,
ragged, rough-bearded, hunger-stricken, and asked for breakfast; having a
Latin Horace about him was suspected and haled to prison, breakfast
unfinished; fainted by the way with exhaustion; was flung into a damp
cell, and found next morning lying dead on the floor"; his works are
voluminous, and the best known is his "Exquisse du Progres de l'Esprit
Humain"; he was not an original thinker, but a clear expositor
(1743-1794).
CONDOTTIE`RI, leaders of Italian free-lances, who in the 14th and
15th centuries lived by plunder or hired themselves to others for a share
in the spoils.
CONFEDERATE STATES, 11 Southern States of the American Union, which
seceded in 1861 on the question of slavery, and which occasioned a civil
war that lasted till 1865.
CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE, a confederation of 16 German States,
which in 1806 dissolved their connection with Germany and leagued with
France, and which lasted till disaster overtook Napoleon in Russia, and
then broke up; the Germanic Confederation, or union of all the States,
took its place, till it too was dissolved by the defeat of Austria in
1866, and which gave ascendency to Prussia and ensured the erection of
the German empire on its ruins.
CONFERENCE, a stated meeting of Wesleyan ministers for the
transaction of the business of their Church.
CONFESSIONS OF FAITH, are statements of doctrine very similar to
Creeds, but usually longer and polemical, as well as didactic; they are
in the main, though not exclusively, associated with Protestantism; the
16th century produced many, including the _Sixty-seven Articles_ of the
Swiss reformers, drawn up by Zwingli in 1523; the _Augsburg Confession_
of 1530, the work of Luther and Melanchthon, which marked the breach with
Rome; the _Tetrapolitan Confession_ of the German Reformed Church, 1530;
the _Gallican Confession_, 1559; and the _Belgic Confession_ of 1561. In
Britain the _Scots Confession_, drawn up by John Knox in 1560; the
_Thirty-nine Articles_ of the Church of England in 1562; the _Irish
Articles_ in 1615; and the _Westminster Confession of Faith_ in 1647;
this last, the work of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, has by its
force of language, logical statement, comprehensiveness, and dependence
on Scripture, commended itself to the Presbyterian Churches of all
English-speaking peoples, and is the most widely recognised Protestant
statement of doctrine; it has as yet been modified only by the United
Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which adopted a Declaratory Statement
regarding certain of its doctrines in 1879, and by the Free Church of
Scotland, which adopted a similar statement in 1890.
CONFESSIONS OF ROUSSEAU, memoirs published after his death in 1788,
in which that writer makes confession of much that was good in him and
much that was bad.
CONFESSIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE, an account which that Father of the
Church gives of the errors of his youth and his subsequent conversion.
CONFUCIUS, the Latin form of the name of the great sage of China,
Kung Futsze, and the founder of a religion which is based on the worship
and practice of morality as exemplified in the lives and teachings of the
wise men who have gone before, and who, as he conceived, have made the
world what it is, and have left it to posterity to build upon the same
basis; while he lived he was held in greater and greater honour by
multitudes of disciples, till on his death he became an object of
worship, and even his descendants came to be regarded as a kind of sacred
caste; he flourished about 550 B.C.
CONGE D'ELIRE, a warrant granted by the Crown to the dean and
chapter of a cathedral to elect a particular bishop to a vacant see.
CONGO, the second in length and largest in volume of the African
rivers, rises NE. of the Muchinga Mountains in Rhodesia, flows SW.
through Lake Bangueola, then N. to the equator; curving in a great
semicircle it continues SW., passes in a series of rapids through the
coast range, and enters the S. Atlantic by an estuary 6 m. broad. It
brings down more water than the other African rivers put together. The
largest affluents are the Kassai on the left, and the Mobangi on the
right bank; 110 m. are navigable to ocean steamers, then the cataracts
intervene, and 250 m. of railway promote transit; the upper river is 2 to
4 m. broad, and navigable for small craft up to Stanley Falls, 1068 m.
The name most associated with its exploration is H. M. Stanley; during
its course of 3000 m. it bears several names.
CONGO, FRENCH (5,000), a continuous and connected territory
extending westward along the right bank of the Congo from Brazzaville to
the mouth of the Mobangi, and as far as 4 deg. N. run N. behind the
Cameroons, and along the E. of Shari to Lake Tchad.
CONGO FREE STATE embraces most of the basin of the Congo, touching
British territory in Uganda and Rhodesia, with a very narrow outlet to
the Atlantic at the river mouth. It is under the sovereignty of Leopold
II. of Belgium, who, in 1890, made over his rights to Belgium with power
to annex the State in 1900. It is nine times the size of Great Britain,
and continual native unrest gives great trouble to its administrators.
Its waters are open to all nations, and traders exchange manufactured
goods for ivory, palm-oil, coffee and caoutchouc, bees-wax and fruits.
The climate is tropical, on the lower levels malarial. The population is
from 20 to 40 millions. The centre of administration is Boma, 80 m. from
the sea.
CONGREGATIONALISM, the ecclesiastical system which regards each
congregation of believers in Christ a church complete in itself, and free
from the control of the other Christian communities, and which extends to
each member equal privileges as a member of Christ's body. It took its
rise in England about 1571, and the most prominent name connected with
its establishment is that of ROBERT BROWN (q. v.), who seceded
from the Church of England and formed a church in Norwich in 1580. The
body was called Brownists after him, and Separatists, as well as
"Independents." The several congregations are now united in what is
called "The Congregational Union of England and Wales."
CONGRESS is a diplomatic conference at which the representatives of
sovereign States discuss matters of importance to their several
countries, the most celebrated of which are those of Muenster and
Osnabrueck, which issued in the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, at the end
of the Thirty Years' War; of Rastadt, at the end of Spanish Succession
War, in 1797; of Vienna, at the end of Napoleon's wars, in 1815; of
Paris, in 1856, at the end of Russian War; and of Berlin, in 1878, at the
end of Russo-Turkish war; but the name has come to be applied in federal
republics to the legislative assembly which directs national as distinct
from State concerns. In the United States, Congress consists of the
Senate, elected by the State legislatures and the House of
Representatives, elected directly by the people. It meets on the first
Monday in December, and receives the President's message for the year. It
imposes taxes, contracts loans, provides for national defence, declares
war, looks after the general welfare, establishes postal communication,
coins money, fixes weights and measures, &c. &c., but it is prohibited
from preferential treatment of the several States, establishing or
interfering with religion, curtailing freedom of speech, or pursuing
towards any citizen, even under legal forms, a course of conduct which is
unjust or even oppressive.
CONGRESS, the Belgian Constituent Assembly, 1830-1831.
CONGREVE, RICHARD, author of political tracts, was a pupil of Dr.
Arnold's, and a disciple of Comte in philosophy; _b_. 1818.
CONGREVE, WILLIAM, English comic dramatist, born near Leeds; entered
a student of the Middle Temple, but soon abandoned law for literature;
the "Old Bachelor" first brought him into repute, and a commissionership
of substantial value; the production of "Love for Love" and the "Mourning
Bride," a stilted tragedy, added immensely to his popularity, but his
comedy "The Way of the World" being coldly received, he gave up writing
plays, and only wrote a few verses afterwards; he was held in great
esteem by his contemporaries, among others Dryden, Pope, and Steele
(1670-1729).
CONGREVE, SIR WILLIAM, an English artillery officer, inventor of the
rocket which bears his name (1772-1828).
CONINGSBY, a novel by Disraeli.
CONINGTON, JOHN, classical scholar and professor of Latin at Oxford,
born at Boston, translator of the "AEneid" of Virgil, "Odes, Satires, and
Epistles" of Horace, and 12 books of the "Iliad" into verse, as well as
of other classics; his greatest work is his edition of "Virgil"
(1823-1869).
CONISBURGH CASTLE, an old round castle referred to in "Ivanhoe," 5
in. SW. of Doncaster.
CONISTON WATER, a lake 5 m. long and 1/2 m. broad, at the foot of
Coniston Fells, in Lancashire, with Brantwood on the E. side of it, the
residence of John Ruskin.
CONKLING, ROSCOE, an American politician, a leading man on the
Republican side; was a member of the House of Representatives, and also
of the Senate; retired from politics, and practised law at New York
(1828-1888).
CONNAUGHT (724), a western province of Ireland, 105 m. long and 92
m. broad, divided into five counties; is the smallest and most barren of
the provinces, but abounds in picturesque scenery; the people are pure
Celts.
CONNAUGHT, DUKE OF, the third son of Queen Victoria, bred for the
army, has held several military appointments; was promoted to the rank of
general in 1893, and made commander-in-chief at Aldershot; _b_. 1850.
CONNECTICUT (746), southernmost of the New England States, is washed
by Long Island Sound, has New York on the W., Rhode Island on the E., and
Massachusetts on the N. It is the third smallest State, rocky and uneven
in surface, unfertile except in the Connecticut River valley. Streams
abound, and supply motive-power for very extensive manufactures of
clocks, hardware, india-rubber goods, smallwares, textiles, and firearms.
There are iron-mines in the NW., stone-quarries, lead, copper, and cobalt
mines. Climate is healthy, changeable, and in winter severe. Education is
excellently provided for. Yale University, at New Haven, is thoroughly
equipped; there are several divinity schools, Trinity College at
Hartford, and the Wesleyan University at Middleton. The capital is
Hartford (53); New Haven (81) is the largest town and chief port. The
original colony was a democratic secession from Massachusetts in 1634.
The constitution of 1639 was the first written democratic constitution on
record. Its present constitution as a State dates from 1818.
CONNECTICUT, a river in the United States which rises on the
confines of Canada, and, after a course of 450 m., falls into the
Atlantic at Long Island.
CONNEMARA, a wild district with picturesque scenery in W. of co.
Galway, Ireland.
CONOLLY, JOHN, physician, born in Lincolnshire, studied at
Edinburgh, settled in London, distinguished for having introduced and
advocated a more rational and humane treatment of the insane (1794-1866).
CONRAD, CADET OF THE HOUSE OF HOHENZOLLERN, served under the
illustrious Barbarossa; proved a capable young fellow under him; married
the heiress of the Vohburgs; was appointed Burggraf of Nuernberg, 1170,
and prince of the empire; "he is the lineal ancestor of Frederick the
Great, twentieth in direct ascent, let him wait till nineteen
generations, valiantly like Conrad, have done their part, Conrad will
find he has come to this," that was realised in Frederick and his time.
CONRAD, MARQUIS OF TYRE, threw himself into Tyre when beset by
Saladin, and held it till Richard Coeur de Lion and Philip Augustus
arrived; was assassinated by emissaries of the Old Man of the Mountain in
1192.
CONRAD I., count of Franconia, elected on the extinction of the
Carlovingian line Emperor of the Germans, which he continued to be from
911 to 915; fell wounded in battle with the Huns, egged on by a rival.
CONRAD II., the Salic, of the same family as the preceding; elected
Emperor of Germany in 1024; reigned 15 years, extending the empire,
suppressing disorders, and effecting reforms.
CONRAD III., founder of the Hohenstaufen dynasty; elected Emperor of
Germany in 1138; had Henry the Proud, as head of the German Guelfs, for
rival; crushed him at Weinsberg; joined Louis VII. of France on a third
crusade, and returning, overthrew the Guelfs again, leaving Barbarossa as
his heir; _d_. 1152.
CONRAD OF THUeRINGIA, a proud, quick, fiery-tempered magnate, seized
the archbishop of Mainz once, swung him round, and threatened to cut him
in two; stormed, plundered, and set fire to an imperial free town for an
affront offered him; but admonished of his sins became penitent, and
reconciled himself by monastic vow to the Pope and mankind about 1234.
CONRADIN THE BOY, or CONRAD V., the last representative of the
Hohenstaufen dynasty of Romish Kaisers, had fallen into the Pope's
clutches, who was at mortal feud with the empire, and was put to death by
him on the scaffold at Naples, October 25, 1265, the "bright and brave"
lad, only 16, "throwing out his glove (in symbolic protest) amid the dark
mute Neapolitan multitudes" that idly looked on. See CARLYLE'S
"FREDERICK THE GREAT" FOR THE CONRADS.
CONSALVI, Italian cardinal and statesman, born at Rome, secretary of
Pius VII.; concluded the Concordat with Napoleon in 1801; represented the
Pope at the Congress of Vienna; was a liberal patron of literature,
science, and arts; continued minister of the Pope till his death
(1757-1824).
CONSCIENCE, HENDRIK, a brilliant Flemish novelist, born at Antwerp;
rose to popularity among his countrymen by his great national romance the
"Lion of Flanders," a popularity which soon extended all over Europe; his
writings display great descriptive power and perfect purity of sentiment
(1812-1883).
CONSCRIPT FATHERS, the collective name of members of the Roman
Senate, and addressed as such, fathers as seniors and conscripts as
enrolled.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, the doctrine that, however it may be
transformed or dissipated, no fraction of energy is ever lost, that the
amount of force, as of matter, in the universe, under all mutation
remains the same.
CONSERVATISM, indisposition to change established laws and customs
that have wrought beneficially in the past and contributed to the welfare
of the country; in practical politics often a very different thing, and
regarded by Carlyle in his time "a portentous enbodied sham; accursed of
God, and doomed to destruction, as all lies are."
CONSIDERANT, VICTOR PROSPER, a French Socialist and disciple of
Fourier; founded a colony in Texas on Fourier's principles, which proved
a failure; wrote much in advocacy of his principles, of which the most
important is "La Destinee Sociale"; _b_. 1808.
CONSOLS, the Consolidated Fund, loans to Government made at
different times and at different rates of interest, consolidated for
convenience into one common loan, bearing interest at 3 per cent.,
reduced in 1830 to 23/4, and in 1893 to 21/2.
CONSTABLE, a high officer of State in the Roman empire, in France,
and in England, charged at one time with military, judicial, and
regulative functions.
CONSTABLE, ARCHIBALD, Edinburgh publisher, born in Carnbee, Fife;
started as a bookseller near the Cross in Edinburgh; published the _Scots
Magazine_, the _Edinburgh Review_, and the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," and
from 1802 to 1826 the works of Sir Walter Scott, when the bankruptcy
connected with the publication of these so affected him that it ruined
his health, though he lived after the crash came to start the
"Miscellany" which bears his name (1774-1827).
CONSTABLE, HENRY, English poet, author of sonnets, 28 in number,
under the title of "Diana" (1560-1612).
CONSTABLE, JOHN, an eminent landscape-painter, born in Suffolk; his
works were more generously appreciated in France than in his own country,
as they well might be, where they had not, as in England, to stand
comparison with those of Turner; but he is now, despite the depreciation
of Ruskin, becoming recognised among us as one of our foremost
landscapists, and enormous prices have been given of late for his best
pictures; some of his best works adorn the walls of the National Gallery;
Ruskin allows his art is original, honest, free from affectation, and
manly (1776-1837).
CONSTABLE DE BOURBON, Charles, Duc de Bourbon, a brilliant military
leader, and a powerful enemy of Francis I.; killed when leading the
assault on Rome (1489-1527).
CONSTANCE (16), a city of the Grand-Duchy of Baden, on the S. bank
of the Rhine, at its exit from the lake; famous for the seat of the
council (1414-1418) which condemned John Huss and Jerome of Prague to
death; long famous for its linen manufacture.
CONSTANCE, LAKE, or BODENSEE, partly in Germany and partly in
Switzerland; is about 44 m. long and 9 m. broad at most; is traversed by
the Rhine from W. to E., is 1306 ft. above sea-level; is surrounded by
vineyards, cornfields, and wooded slopes; its waters are hardly ever
frozen, and often rise and fall suddenly.
CONSTANT, BENJAMIN, a highly popular French painter of the Realistic
school, born at Paris; his first picture was "Hamlet and the King";
afterwards he took chiefly to Oriental subjects, which afforded the best
scope for his talent; occupies a high place in the modern French school,
and has been promoted to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour;
_b_. 1845.
CONSTANT DE REBECQUE, HENRY BENJAMIN DE, a French politician, of
liberal constitutional principles, born at Lausanne, of Huguenot parents;
settled in Paris at the commencement of the Revolution, where he
distinguished himself by his political writings and speeches; was
expelled from France in 1802, along with Mme. de Stael, for denouncing
the military ascendency of Napoleon; lived for a time at Weimar in the
society of Goethe and Schiller; translated Schiller's "Wallenstein";
returned to France in 1814; declared for the Bourbons, and pled in favour
of constitutional liberty; he was a supporter of Louis Philippe, and a
rationalist in religion, and declared himself opposed to the supernatural
element in all religions (1760-1830).
CONSTANTIA, a wine district of Cape Colony under E. flank of Table
Mountain.
CONSTANTINE (50), inland city of Algeria, on a rocky height;
leather-working its staple industry.
CONSTANTINE, the name of 13 emperors who reigned at Rome or
Byzantium between 306 and 1453.
CONSTANTINE I., called the Great, born in Moesia, son of Constantius
Chlorus by Helena; on the death of his father at York, where he
accompanied him, was proclaimed Emperor by the troops; this title being
challenged by Maximian, his father-in-law, and Maxentius, his
brother-in-law, he took up arms against first the one and then the other,
and defeated them; when one day he saw a cross in the sky with the words
_By this Conquer_ in Greek, under this sign, known as the _labarum_,
which he adopted as his standard, he accordingly marched straight to
Rome, where he was acknowledged Emperor by the Senate in 312; and
thereafter an edict was issued named of Milan, granting toleration to the
Christians; he had still to extend his empire over the East, and having
done so by the removal of Lucinius, he transferred the seat of his empire
to Byzantium, which hence got the name of Constantinople, i. e.
Constantine's city; had himself baptized in 337 as a Christian, after
having three years before proclaimed Christianity the State religion
(274-337).
CONSTANTINE NICOLAIEVITCH, second son of the Czar Nicholas I.; was
appointed grand-admiral while but a boy; had command of the Baltic fleet
during the Crimean war; came under suspicion of sinister intriguing;
became insane, and died in seclusion (1827-1892).
CONSTANTINE PAULOVITCH, Grand-duke of Russia, son of Paul I.;
distinguished himself at Austerlitz; was commander-in-chief in Poland,
where he ruled as despot; waived his right to the throne in favour of his
brother Nicholas (1779-1831).
CONSTANTINE XIII., Palaeologus, the last of the Greek emperors; had
to defend Constantinople against a besieging force of 300,000 under
Mahomet II., and though he defended it bravely, the city was taken by
storm, and the Eastern empire ended in 1543.
CONSTANTINOPLE (1,000), capital of the Turkish empire, on the
Bosphorus, situated on a peninsula washed by the Sea of Marmora on the S.
and by the Golden Horn on the N., on the opposite side of which creek lie
the quarters of Galata and Pera, one of the finest commercial sites in
the world; it became the capital of the Roman empire under Constantine
the Great, who gave name to it; was capital of the Eastern empire from
the days of Theodosius; was taken by the crusaders in 1204, and by
Mahomet II. in 1452, at which time the Greek and Latin scholars fled the
city, carrying the learning of Greece and Rome with them, an event which
led to the revival of learning in Europe, and the establishment of a new
era--the Modern--in European history.
CONSTANTIUS CHLORUS, or THE PALE, Roman emperor; after a
struggle of three years reunited Britain with the empire, which had been
torn from it by Allectus; was equally successful against the Alemanni,
defeating them with great loss; died at York, on an expedition against
the Picts; was succeeded by Constantine, his son (250-305).
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, the legislative body which the National
Assembly of France resolved itself into in 1789, a name it assumed from
the task it imposed on itself, viz., of making a constitution, a task
which, from the nature of it proved impossible, as a constitution is an
entity which grows, and is not made, _nascitur, non fit_.
CONSUELO, the heroine of George Sand's novel of the name, her
masterpiece; the impersonation of the triumph of moral purity over
manifold temptations.
CONSUL, (1) one of the two magistrates of Rome elected annually
after the expulsion of the kings, and invested with regal power; (2) a
chief magistrate of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804; (3) one
commissioned to protect, especially the mercantile rights of the subjects
of a State in foreign country.
CONSULATE, name given to the French Government from the fall of the
Directory till the establishment of the Empire. At first there were three
provisional consuls, Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos; then three
consuls for ten years, Bonaparte, Cambaceres, and Lebrun, which was
dissolved with the establishment of the Empire on the 20th May 1804.
CONTARI`NI, an illustrious Venetian family, which furnished eight
Doges to the Republic, as well as an array of men eminent in the Church,
statecraft, generalship, art, and letters.
CONTE, NICOLAS JACQUES, a French painter; distinguished for his
mechanical genius, which was of great avail to the French army in Egypt
(1755-1805).
CONTI, an illustrious French family, a younger branch of the house
of Bourbon-Conde, all more or less distinguished as soldiers; FRANCOIS
LOUIS especially, who was a man of supreme ability both in war and
science, and had the merit to be elected king of Poland (1664-1709).
CONTINENTAL SYSTEM, Napoleon's scheme for interdicting all commerce
between the Continent and Great Britain, carried out with various issues
till the fall of Napoleon. See BERLIN and MILAN DECREES.
CONTRAT, SOCIAL, Rousseau's theory of society that it is based on
mere contract, each individual member of it surrendering his will to the
will of all, under protection of all concerned, a theory which led to the
conclusion that the rule of kings is an usurpation of the rights of the
community, and which bore fruit as an explosive in the Revolution at the
end of the century.
CONVENTION, NATIONAL, a revolutionary convention in France which, on
September 20, 1792, succeeded the Legislative Assembly, proclaimed the
Republic, condemned the king to death, succeeded in crushing the
royalists of La Vendee and the south, in defeating all Europe leagued
against France, and in founding institutions of benefit to France to this
day; it was dissolved on October 26, 1795, to make way for the Directory.
CONVERSATIONS LEXICON, a popular German encyclopaedia of 16 vols.,
started in 1796, and since 1808 published by Brockhaus, in Leipzig.
CONVERSION, "the grand epoch for a man," says Carlyle, "properly the
one epoch; the turning-point, which guides upwards, or guides downwards,
him and his activities for evermore."
CONVOCATION, an assemblage of the English clergy, with little or no
legislative power, summoned and prorogued by an archbishop under
authority of the Crown; one under the Archbishop of Canterbury, held at
Canterbury, and one under the Archbishop of York, held at York,
consisting each of two bodies, an Upper of bishops, and an Under of
lesser dignitaries and inferior clergy, in separate chambers, though they
originally met in one.
CONWAY, a port in Carnarvon, on the river Conway, with a massive
castle, one of those built by Edward I. to keep Wales in check; is a
favourite summer resort, and is amid beautiful scenery.
CONWAY, HUGH, the _nom de plume_ of Frederick Fargus, born in
Bristol; bred to the auctioneer business; author of "Called Back," a
highly sensational novel, and a success; gave up his business and settled
in London, where he devoted himself to literature, and the production of
similar works of much promise, but caught malarial fever at Monte Carlo
and died (1847-1885).
CONWAY, MONCURE, an American writer, born in Virginia; began life as
a Unitarian preacher; came to England as a lecturer on war; became leader
of the advanced school of thought, so called; was a great admirer of
Emerson, and wrote, among other works, "Emerson at Home and Abroad"; _b_.
1832.
CONYBEARE, WILLIAM DANIEL, an English clergyman, devoted to the
study of geology and palaeontology, and a Bampton lecturer (1787-1857).
CONYBEARE, WILLIAM JOHN, son of the preceding; author, along with
Dean Howson, of the "Life and Epistles of St. Paul," and of an "Essay on
Church Parties" (1815-1857).
COOK, DUTTON, novelist, dramatic author, and critic; born in London,
and bred a solicitor; contributed to several periodicals, and the
"Dictionary of National Biography" (1822-1883).
COOK, EDWARD T., journalist, born at Brighton; educated at Oxford;
had been on the editorial staff of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ and the
_Westminster Gazette_, became, in 1893, editor of the _Daily News_; is an
enthusiastic disciple of Ruskin; wrote "Studies on Ruskin"; _b_. 1857.
COOK, ELIZA, a writer of tales, verses, and magazine articles; born
in Southwark; daughter of a merchant; conducted, from 1849 to 1854, a
journal called by her name, but gave it up from failing health; enjoyed a
pension of L100 on the Civil List till her death; was the authoress of
"The Old Arm-Chair" and "Home in the Heart," both of which were great
favourites with the public, and did something for literature and
philanthropy by her _Journal_ (1818-1889).
COOK, JAMES, the distinguished English navigator, born at Marton,
Yorkshire; was the son of a farm labourer; began sea-faring on board a
merchantman; entered the navy in 1755, and in four years became a master;
spent some nine years in survey of the St. Lawrence and the coasts of
Newfoundland; in 1768, in command of the _Endeavour_, was sent out with
an expedition to observe the transit of Venus, and in 1772 as commander
of two vessels on a voyage of discovery to the South Seas; on his return,
receiving further promotion, he set out on a third voyage of farther
exploration in the Pacific, making many discoveries as far N. as Behring
Strait; lost his life, on his way home, in a dispute with the natives, at
Owhyhee, in the Sandwich Islands, being savagely murdered, a fate which
befell him owing to a certain quickness of temper he had displayed,
otherwise he was a man of great kindness of heart, and his men were
warmly attached to him (1728-1779).
COOK, JOSEPH, a popular lecturer, born near New York; delivered
Monday Lectures at Boston in the discussion of social questions, and the
alleged discrepancy between science and religion or revelation; _b_.
1838.
COOK, MOUNT, the highest point, 12,350 ft., in the Southern Alps,
Canterbury Island, New Zealand.
COOK STRAIT, strait between the North and the South Island, New
Zealand.
COOKE, SIR ANTONY, an eminent scholar, tutor to Edward VI.; of his
daughters, one was married to Lord Burleigh and another to Sir Nicholas
Bacon, who became the mother of Lord Bacon (1506-1576).
COOKE, BENJAMIN, composer, born in London; organist in Westminster
Abbey; author of "How Sleep the Brave," "Hark! the Lark," and other
glees, as well as some excellent church music (1739-1793).
COOKE, GEORGE FREDERICK, an actor, famous for his representation of
Richard III.; stood in his day next to Kemble in spite of his intemperate
habits (1756-1811).
COOKE, T. P., an actor in melodrama; began life at sea; took to the
stage; his most popular representations were William in "Black-eyed
Susan" and Long Tom Coffin in the "Pilot" (1786-1864).
COOLGARDIE, a mining district and head-quarters of rich gold-fields
in W. Australia.
COOLIES, labourers from India and China, who now emigrate in large
numbers, especially from China, often to where they are not wanted, and
where they, as in the British Colonies and the United States, are much
disliked, as they bring down the wages of native labourers.
COOMASSIE, the capital of the negro kingdom of Ashanti, 130 m. NNW.
of Cape Coast Castle; once a large populous place; was much reduced after
its capture by Wolseley in 1874, though it is being rebuilt.
COOPER, ANTHONY ASHLEY. See SHAFTESBURY.
COOPER, SIR ASTLEY, English surgeon, born in Norfolk; was great in
anatomy and a skilful operator, stood high in the medical profession;
contributed much by his writings to raise surgery to the rank of a
science; was eminent as a lecturer as well as a practitioner (1768-1841).
COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE, an American novelist, born in Burlington,
New Jersey; having a passion for the sea, he entered the navy as a
midshipman in 1808, but in three years resigned his commission, married,
and settled to literature; his novels, which are well known, achieved
instant popularity, made him a great favourite with boys, in which he
showed himself an expert in the narration of events, the description of
scenes, as well as in the delineation of character; he came to
loggerheads with the newspaper press, had recourse to actions for libel,
conducted his own cases himself, and was always successful (1789-1851).
COOPER, THOMAS, a self-taught man, born in Leicester; bred a
shoemaker; became a schoolmaster, a Methodist preacher, and then a
journalist; converted to Chartism; was charged with sedition, and
committed to prison for two years; wrote here "Purgatory of Suicides";
after liberation went about lecturing on politics and preaching
scepticism; returning to his first faith, he lectured on the Christian
evidences, and wrote an autobiography (1805-1892).
COOPER, THOMAS SIDNEY, a distinguished animal-painter, born in
Canterbury; struggled with adversity in early life: rose to be supreme in
his own department of art; he has written an account of his career; _b_.
1803.
COOPERAGE, a system of barter which has for some time gone on in the
North Seas, consisting of exchange of spirits and tobacco for other goods
or money, a demoralising traffic, which endeavours are now being made to
suppress.
COOPER'S HILL, a hill of slight elevation near Runnymede, with a
Government civil engineering college, originally for the training for the
service in India, now for education in other departments of the
Government service, forestry especially.
COORG (173), an inland high-lying province, about the size of Kent,
on the eastern slope of the W. Ghats, on the SW. border of Mysore, under
the Indian Government; it is covered with forests, infested with wild
animals; the natives, a fine race, are distinguished for their loyalty to
the British.
COOTE, SIR EYRE, a general, born in co. Limerick, Ireland;
distinguished himself at Plassey; gained victories over the French in
India; afterwards routed Hyder Ali at Porto Novo; died at Madras
(1726-1783).
COPE, CHARLES WEST, a painter, born at Leeds; his pictures have for
subjects historical or dramatic scenes, and were very numerous; executed
the frescoes that adorn the Peers' corridor at Westminster; was professor
of Painting to the Royal Academy (1811-1890).
COPE, SIR JOHN, a British general; was in command at Prestonpans,
and defeated by the Pretender there in 1745, in connection with which his
name is remembered in Scotland as not having been ready when the
Highlanders attacked him, by the song "Heigh! Johnnie Cowp, are ye wauken
yet?" _d_. 1760.
COPENHAGEN (380), the capital of Denmark, and the only large town in
it; lies low, and is built partly on the island of Seeland and partly on
the island of Amager, the channel between which forms a commodious
harbour; is a thriving place of manufacture and of trade, as its name
"Merchants' Haven" implies; has also a university, an arsenal, and
numerous public buildings.
COPERNICUS, NICOLAS, founder of modern astronomy, born at Thorn, in
Poland, and educated at Cracow and Bologna; became canon of Frauenburg,
on the Frisches Haff; studied medicine; was doctor to a wealthy uncle,
with whom he lived, and became his heir when he died; his chief interest
lay in the heavenly bodies, and his demonstrations regarding their
movements, which yet he deferred publishing till he was near his end; and
indeed it was only when he was unconscious and dying that the first
printed copy of the work was put into his hands; it was entitled "De
Orbium Revolutionibus," and was written in proof of the great first
principle of astronomy, that the sun is the centre of the solar system,
and that the earth and planets circle round it; the work was dedicated to
Pope Paul III., and was received with favour by the Catholic Church,
though, strange to say, it was denounced by Luther and Melanchthon as
contrary to the Scriptures of truth (1473-1543).
COPIAPO, a river, a village, a city, and a district in Chile.
COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, portrait and historical painter, born in
Boston, U.S.; painted Washington's portrait at the age of eighteen; came
to England in 1776, having previously sent over for exhibition sundry of
his works; painted portraits of the king and the queen; began the
historical works on which his fame chiefly rests, the most widely known
perhaps of which is the "Death of Chatham," now in the National Gallery
(1737-1815).
COPPEE, FRANCOIS, a poet, born in Paris; has produced several
volumes of poetry, excellent dramas in verse, and tales in prose; his
poetry is the poetry of humble life, and "has given poetic pleasure," as
Professor Saintsbury says, "to many who are not capable of receiving it
otherwise, while he has never sought to give that pleasure by unworthy
means"; _b_. 1842.
COPPER CAPTAIN, a Brummagem captain; the name given to Percy in
Beaumont and Fletcher's play, "Rule a Wife and Have a Wife."
COPPER NOSE, name given to Oliver Cromwell, from a brownish tinge on
his nose.
COPPERHEADS, secret foes in one's own camp, so called from a set of
serpents which conceal their purpose to attack.
COPPERMINE, a river in NW. Canada which falls into the Arctic Ocean
after a broken course of 250 m.
COPPET, a Swiss village in the Canton de Vaud, on the Lake of
Geneva; celebrated as the abode of Mme. de Stael, her burial-place and
that of Necker, her father.
COPTS, the Christian descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who are
Monophysites in belief, some regarding the Patriarch of Alexandria and
some the Pope as their head; they adhere to the ancient ritual, are
prelatic, sacramentarian, and exclusive; they speak Arabic, their
original Coptic being as good as dead, though the grammar is taught in
the schools.
COPYRIGHT, the sole right of an author or his heirs to publish a
work for a term of years fixed by statute, a book for 42 years, or the
author's lifetime and 7 years after, whichever is longer; copyright
covers literary, artistic, and musical property. By the Act an author
must present one copy of his work, if published, to the British Museum,
and one copy, if demanded, to the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the
University Library, Cambridge; the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh; and
Trinity College Library, Dublin.
COQUELIN, BENOIT CONSTANT, a noted French actor, born at Boulogne;
played in classical pieces and others, composed for himself in the
Theatre Francais from 1860 to 1886; since then in London, S. America, and
the United States; without a rival in the broader aspects of comedy; _b_.
1841.
COQUEREL, ATHANASE, a pastor of the French Reformed Church, born in
Paris, where he preached eloquently from 1830 till his death; was elected
in 1848 deputy for the Seine to the national Assembly, but retired from
political life after the _coup d'etat_; wrote a reply to Strauss
(1795-1858).
COQUEREL, ATHANASE, a Protestant pastor, son of preceding, born at
Amsterdam; celebrated for his liberal and tolerant views, too much so for
M. Guizot; edited Voltaire's letters on toleration; his chief work, "Jean
Calas et sa Famille" (1820-1875).
COQUIMBO (14), capital of a mining province of Chile (176) of the
name; exports minerals and cattle.
CORAIS, a distinguished Hellenist, born in Smyrna, of the mercantile
class; settled in Paris, where he devoted himself to awakening an
interest in Greek literature and the cause of the Greeks (1748-1833).
CORAM, THOMAS, English philanthropist, the founder of the Foundling
Hospital, born at Lyme Regis; a man of varied ventures by sea and land;
settled in London; was touched by the sufferings of the poor, where, with
warm support from Hogarth, he founded the said institution; his charity
so impoverished him that he ended his days as an object of charity
himself, being dependent on a small annuity raised by subscription
(1667-1751).
CORATO (30), a town in a fertile region in S. Italy, 25 m. W. of
Bari.
CORBLE-STEPS, or CROW-STEPS, steps ascending the gable of a
house, common in old Scotch gables as well as in the Netherlands and
elsewhere in old towns.
COR`BULO, a distinguished general under Claudius and Nero, who
conquered the Parthians; Nero, being jealous of him, invited him to
Corinth, where he found a death-warrant awaiting him, upon which he
plunged his sword into his breast and exclaimed, "Well deserved!" in 72
A.D.
CORCY`RA, an Ionian island, now CORFU (q. v.).
CORDAY, CHARLOTTE, a French heroine, born at St. Saturnin, of good
birth, granddaughter of Corneille; well read in Voltaire and Plutarch;
favoured the Revolution, but was shocked at the atrocities of the
Jacobins; started from Caen for Paris as an avenging angel; sought out
Marat, with difficulty got access to him, stabbed him to the heart as he
sat "stewing in slipper-bath," and "his life with a groan gushed out,
indignant, to the shades below"; when arrested, she "quietly
surrendered"; when questioned as to her motive, she answered, "I killed
one man to save a hundred thousand"; she was guillotined next day
(1763-1793).
CORDELIA, the youngest and favourite daughter of King Lear.
CORDELIERS, (1) the strictest branch of the Franciscan Order of
Monks, so called from wearing a girdle of knotted cord; (2) also a club
during the French Revolution, founded in 1789, its prominent members,
Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Marat; was a secession from the Jacobin
Club, which was thought lukewarm, and met in what had been a convent of
the Cordeliers monks; it expired with Danton.
CORDERIUS, a grammarian, born in Normandy; being a Protestant
settled in Geneva and taught; author of Latin "Colloquies," once very
famous (1478-1567).
CORDILLERAS, the name of several chains of mountains in S. America.
CORDITE, a smokeless powder, invented by Sir F. A. Abel, being
composed principally of gun-cotton and glycerine.
CORDON BLUE, formerly the badge of the Order of the Holy Ghost, now
the badge of highest excellence in a cook.
CORDOUAN, a lighthouse at the mouth of the Gironde.
COR`DOVA (70), a city on the Parana, in the Argentine; also a town
(48) in Andalusia, Spain, on the right bank of the Guadalquivir, in a
province of the name, 80 m. NE. of Seville; once a Moorish capital, and
famous for its manufacture of goat leather; has a cathedral, once a
magnificent mosque.
COREA (6,511), an Eastern Asiatic kingdom occupying the mountainous
peninsula between the Yellow and Japan Seas, in the latitude of Italy,
with Manchuria on its northern border, a country as large as Great
Britain. The people, an intelligent and industrious race, are Mongols,
followers of Confucius and Buddha. After being for 300 years tributary to
China, it passed under Japanese influence, and by the Chinese defeat in
the war with Japan, 1894-95, was left independent. The climate is
healthy, but subject to extremes; rivers are ice-bound for four months.
Wheat, rice, and beans are grown. There are gold, silver, iron, and coal
mines, and great mineral wealth. There are extensive manufactures of
paper, and some silk industry. Three ports are open to foreigners; but
most of the trade is with Japan; exports hides, beans, and paper; imports
cotton goods. The capital is Seoul (193).
CORELLI, ARCANGELO, an Italian musical composer, celebrated for his
skill on the violin; his compositions mark a new musical epoch; he has
been called the father of instrumental music (1653-1713).
CORELLI, MARIE, a novelist, a prolific authoress, and very popular;
her first work "The Romance of Two Worlds," one of her latest "The
Sorrows of Satan"; _b_. 1864.
CORFE CASTLE, a village in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorsetshire, round a
castle now in ruins, and the scene of martyrdoms and murders not a few in
its day.
CORFU (78), the most northerly of the Ionian Islands and the
largest, 40 m. long, from 4 to 18 broad; was under the protection of
Britain, 1815-64; has since belonged to Greece; has a capital (79) of the
same name.
CORIN`NA, a poetess of ancient Greece, born in Boeotia; friend and
rival of Pindar; only a few fragments of her poetry remain.
CORINNE, the heroine and title of a novel of Mme. de Stael's, her
principal novel, in which she celebrates the praises of the great men and
great masterpieces of Italy; her heroine is the type of a woman inspired
with poetic ideas and the most generous sentiments.
CORINTH, an ancient city of Greece, and one of the most flourishing,
on an isthmus of the name connecting the Peloponnesus with the mainland;
a great centre of trade and of material wealth, and as a centre of luxury
a centre of vice; the seat of the worship of Aphrodite, a very different
goddess from Athene, to whom Athens was dedicated.
CORINTHIANS, EPISTLES TO THE, two epistles of St. Paul to the Church
he had established in Corinth, the chief object of which was to cleanse
it of certain schisms and impurities that had arisen, and to protest
against the disposition of many in it to depart from simple gospel which
they had been taught.
CORIOLA`NUS, a celebrated Roman general of patrician rank, who
rallied his countrymen when, in besieging Corioli, they were being driven
back, so that he took the city, and was in consequence called Coriolanus;
having afterwards offended the plebs, he was banished from the city; took
refuge among the people he had formerly defeated; joined cause with them,
and threatened to destroy the city, regardless of every entreaty to spare
it, till his mother, his wife, and the matrons of Rome overcame him by
their tears, upon which he withdrew and led back his army to Corioli,
prepared to suffer any penalty his treachery to them might expose him.
CORIOLI, a town of ancient Latium, capital of the Volsci.
CORK (73), a fine city, capital of a county (436) of the same name
in Munster, Ireland, on the Lee, 11 m. from its mouth; with a magnificent
harbour, an extensive foreign trade, and manufactures of various kinds.
CORMENIN, a French statesman and jurist, born at Paris; had great
influence under Louis Philippe; his pamphlets, signed _Timon_, made no
small stir; left a work on administrative law in France (1788-1886).
CORMONTAIGNE, a celebrated French engineer, born at Strasburg;
successor of Vauban (1696-1752).
CORNARO, an illustrious patrician family in Venice, from which for
centuries several Doges sprung.
CORN-CRACKER, the nickname of a Kentucky man.
CORNEILLE, PIERRE, the father of French tragedy, born at Rouen, the
son of a government legal official; was bred for the bar, but he neither
took to the profession nor prospered in the practice of it, so gave it up
for literature; threw himself at once into the drama; began by
dramatising an incident in his own life, and became the creator of the
dramatic art in France; his first tragedies are "The Cid," which indeed
is his masterpiece, "Horace," "Cinna," "Polyeucte," "Rodogune," and "Le
Menteur"; in his verses, which are instinct with vigour of conception as
well as sublimity of feeling, he paints men as they should be, virtuous
in character, brave in spirit, and animated by the most exalted
sentiments. Goethe contrasts him with Racine: "Corneille," he says,
"delineated great men; Racine, men of eminent rank." "He rarely provokes
an interest," says Professor Saintsbury, "in the fortunes of his
characters; it is rather in the way that they bear their fortune, and
particularly in a kind of haughty disdain for fortune itself... He shows
an excellent comic faculty at times, and the strokes of irony in his
serious plays have more of true humour in them than appears in almost any
other French dramatist" (1606-1684).
CORNEILLE, THOMAS, younger brother of the preceding, a dramatist,
whose merits were superior, but outshone by those of his brother
(1625-1709).
CORNELIA, the daughter of Scipio Africanus and the mother of the
GRACCHI (q. v.), the Roman matron who, when challenged by a
rival lady to outshine her in wealth of gems, proudly led forth her sons
saying, "These are my jewels"; true to this sentiment, it was as the
mother of the Gracchi she wished to be remembered, and is remembered, in
the annals of Rome.
CORNELIUS, PETER VON, a distinguished German painter, born at
Duesseldorf; early gave proof of artistic genius, which was carefully
fostered by his father; spent much time as a youth in studying and
copying Raphael; before he was 20 he decorated a church at Neuss with
colossal figures in chiaroscuro; in 1810 executed designs for Goethe's
"Faust"; in the year after went to Rome, where, along with others, he
revived the old art of fresco painting, in which he excelled his rivals;
the subjects of these were drawn from Greek pagan as well as Christian
sources, his "Judgment" being the largest fresco in the world; the
thought which inspires his cartoons, critics say, surpasses his power of
execution; it should be added, he prepared a set of designs to illustrate
the "Nibelungen" (1787-1867).
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, a university in Ithaca, New York State, founded
in 1868 at a cost of L152,000, named after its founder, Ezra Cornell; it
supports a large staff of teachers, and gives instruction in all
departments of science, literature, and philosophy; it provides education
to sundry specified classes free of all fees, as well as means of earning
the benefits of the institution to any who may wish to enjoy them.
CORN-LAWS, laws in force in Great Britain regulating the import and
export of corn for the protection of the home-producer at the expense of
the home-consumer, and which after a long and bitter struggle between
these two classes were abolished in 1846.
CORN-LAW RHYMER, THE, EBENEZER ELLIOTT (q. v.) who, in a
volume of poems, denounced the corn-laws and contributed to their
abolition.
CORNO, MONTE, the highest peak of the Apennines, 9545 ft.
CORNWALL (322), a county in the SW. extremity of England, forming a
peninsula between the English and the Bristol Channels, with a rugged
surface and a rocky coast, indented all round with more or less deep bays
inclosed between high headlands; its wealth lies not in the soil, but
under it in its mines, and in the pilchard, mackerel, and other fisheries
along its stormy shores; the county town is Bodmin (5), the largest
Penzance (12), and the mining centre Truro (11).
CORNWALL, BARRY, the _nom de plume_ of B. W. PROCTER (q. v.).
CORNWALLIS, LORD, an English general and statesman; saw service in
the Seven Years' and the American Wars; besieged in the latter at York
Town, was obliged to capitulate; became Governor-General of India, and
forced Tippoo Sahib to submit to humiliating terms; as Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland crushed the rebellion of '98; re-appointed Governor-General of
India; died there (1738-1805).
COROMANDEL COAST, E. coast of Hindustan, extending from the Krishna
to Cape Comorin.
CORONATION CHAIR, a chair inclosing a stone carried off by Edward I.
from Scone in 1296, on which the sovereigns of England are crowned.
COROT, JEAN BAPTISTE, a celebrated French landscape-painter, born at
Paris; was 26 years of age before he began to apply himself to art, which
he did by study in Italy and Rome, returning to Paris in 1827, where he
began to exhibit, and continued to exhibit for nearly 50 years; it was
long before his pieces revealed what was in him and the secret of his
art; he appeared also as a poet as well as a painter, giving free play to
his emotions and moving those of others (1796-1875).
CORPS LEGISLATIF, the lower house of the French legislature,
consisting of deputies.
CORPUSCULAR PHILOSOPHY, the philosophy which accounts for physical
phenomena by the position and the motions of corpuscles.
CORR, ERIN, an eminent engraver, born in Brussels, of Irish descent;
spent 10 years in engraving on copper-plate Rubens's "Descent from the
Cross" (1793-1862).
CORRECTOR, ALEXANDER THE, Alexander Cruden, who believed he had a
divine mission to correct the manners of the world.
CORREGGIO, ANTONIO ALLEGRI DA, an illustrious Italian painter, born
at Correggio, in Modena; founder of the Lombard school, and distinguished
among his contemporaries for the grace of his figures and the harmony of
his colouring; he has been ranked next to Raphael, and it has been said
of him he perfected his art by adding elegance to truth and grandeur; he
is unrivalled in chiaroscuro, and he chose his subjects from pagan as
well as Christian legend (1494-1534).
CORRIB, LOUGH, an irregularly shaped lake in Galway and Mayo, 25 m.
long and from 1 to 6 m. broad, with stone circles near it.
CORRIENTES (300), a province of the Argentine Republic, between the
Parana and the Uruguay; also its capital (18), surrounded by
orange-groves; so called from the currents that prevail in the river,
along which steamers ply between it and Buenos Ayres.
CORRUGATED IRON, in general, sheet-iron coated with zinc.
CORSAIR, THE, a poem of Byron's, in which the author paints himself
in heroic colours as an adventurer who drowns reflection in the
intoxication of battle.
CORSICA (288), an island belonging to France, in the Mediterranean,
ceded to her by Genoa in 1768, but by position, race, and language
belongs to Italy; has been subject by turns to the powers that in
succession dominated that inland sea; is 116 m. long and 52 broad; it
abounds in mountains, attaining 9000 ft.; covered with forests and
thickets, which often serve as shelter for brigands; it affords good
pasturage, and yields olive-oil and wine, as well as chesnuts, honey, and
wax.
CORSICA PAOLI, a native of Corsica, who vainly struggled to achieve
the independence of his country, and took refuge in England, where he
enjoyed the society of the Johnson circle, and was much esteemed. See
PAOLI.
CORSSEN, WILLIAM PAUL, a learned German philologist, born at Bremen;
made a special study of the Latin languages, and especially the Etruscan,
which he laboured to prove was cognate with that of the Romans and of the
races that spoke it (1820-1875).
CORT, an eminent Dutch engraver, went to Venice, lived with Titian;
engraved some of his pictures; went to Rome and engraved Raphael's
"Transfiguration"; executed over 150 plates, all displaying great
accuracy and refinement (1536-1578).
CORTES, the name given in Spain and Portugal to the National
Assembly, consisting of nobles and representatives of the nation.
CORTES, a Spanish soldier and conqueror of Mexico, born in
Estremadura; went with Velasquez to Cuba; commanded the expedition to
conquer Mexico, and by burning all his ships that conveyed his men, cut
off all possibility of retreat; having conquered the tribes that he met
on landing, he marched on to the capital, which, after a desperate
struggle, he reduced, and laid waste and then swept the country, by all
which he added to the wealth of Spain, but by his cruelty did dishonour
to the chivalry of which Spain was once so proud (1485-1547).
CORTONA, PIETRO DA, an Italian painter, born at Cortona, in Tuscany,
and eminent as an architect also; decorated many of the finest buildings
in Rome (1596-1669).
CORUNA (34), a fortified town on NW. of Spain, with a commodious
harbour, where Sir John Moore fell in 1809 while defending the
embarkation of his army against Soult, and where his tomb is.
CORVEE, obligation as at one time enforced in France to render
certain services to Seigneurs, such as repairing of roads, abolished by
the Contituent Assembly.
CORYAT, THOMAS, an English traveller and wit, who, in his
"Crudities," quaintly describes his travels through France and Italy
(1577-1617).
CORYBANTES, priests of CYBELE (q. v.), whose religious
rites were accompanied with wild dances and the clashing of cymbals.
CORYDON, a shepherd in Virgil, name for a lovesick swain.
CORYPHAEUS, originally the leader of the chorus in a Greek drama, now
a leader in any dramatic company, or indeed in any art.
COS (10), an island in the AEgean Sea, birthplace of Hippocrates and
Apelles.
COSENZA (18), a town in Calabria, in a deep valley, where Alaric
died.
COSIN, JOHN, a learned English prelate, Dean of Peterborough,
deposed by the Puritans for his ritualistic tendencies; exiled for 10
years in Paris; returned at the Restoration, and was made Bishop of
Durham, where he proved himself a Bishop indeed, and a devoted supporter
of the Church which he adorned by his piety (1594-1672).
COSMAS, ST., Arabian physician and patron of surgeons, brother of
St. Damian; suffered martyrdom in 303. Festival, Sept. 27.
COSMAS INDICOPLEUSTES (i. e. voyager to India), an Egyptian monk
of the 6th century, born in Alexandria, singular for his theory of the
system of the world, which, in opposition to the Ptolemaic system, he
viewed as in shape like that of the Jewish Tabernacle, with Eden outside,
and encircled by the ocean, a theory he advanced as in conformity with
Scripture.
COSMO I., Grand-duke of Tuscany, head of the Republic of Florence,
of which he made himself absolute master, a post he held in defiance of
all opposition, in order to secure the independence of the state he
governed, as well as its internal prosperity (1519-1574).
COSMOGRAPHY, any theory which attempts to trace the system of things
back to its first principle or primordial element or elements.
COSQUIN, EMMANUEL, a French folk-lorist, and author of "Popular
Tales of Lorraine," in the introduction to which he argues for the theory
that the development as well as the origin of such tales is historically
traceable to India; _b_. 1841.
COSSACKS, a military people of mixed origin, chiefly Tartar and
Slav, who fought on horseback, in their own interest as well as that of
Russia, defending its interests in particular for centuries past in many
a struggle, and forming an important division of the Russian army.
COSTA RICA (262), a small republic of Central America; it is mostly
tableland; contains many volcanoes; is chiefly agricultural, though rich
in minerals.
COSTARD, a clown in "Love's Labour Lost," who apes the affected
court-wits of the time in a misappropriate style.
COSTELLO, LOUISA STUART, an English authoress; her descriptive
powers were considerable, and her novels had a historical groundwork
(1799-1870).
COSTER, _alias_ LAURENS JANSZOON, born at Haarlem, to whom his
countrymen, as against the claims of Gutenberg, ascribe the invention of
printing (1370-1440).
COSWAY, RICHARD, a distinguished miniature portrait-painter, born at
Tiverton; Correggio his model (1740-1821).
COTE D'OR, a range of hills in the NE. of France, connecting the
Cevennes with the Vosges, which gives name to a department (376) famed
for its wines.
COTENTIN, a peninsula NW. of Normandy, France, jutting into the
English Channel, now forms the northern part of the dep. La Manche, the
fatherland of many of the Norman conquerors of England.
COTES, ROGER, an English mathematician of such promise, that Newton
said of him, "If he had lived, we should have known something"
(1682-1716).
COTES DU NORD (618), a dep. forming part of Brittany; the chief
manufacture is linen.
COTIN, THE ABBE, a French preacher, born in Paris; a butt of the
sarcasm of Moliere and Boileau (1604-1682)
COTMAN, JOHN SELL, an English painter, born at Norwich; made
Turner's acquaintance; produced water-colour landscapes, growing in
repute; has been pronounced "the most gifted of the Norwich School"
(1782-1842).
COTOPAXI, a volcano of the Andes, in Ecuador, the highest and most
active in the world, nearly 20,000 ft., 35 m. SE. of Quito; it rises in a
perfect cone, 4400 ft. above the plateau of Quito.
COTSWOLD HILLS, in Gloucestershire, separating the Lower Severn from
the sources of the Thames; they are of limestone rock, 50 m. long, and
extend N. and S.
COTTA, CAIUS, a distinguished Roman orator, 1st century B.C.;
mentioned with honour by Cicero.
COTTA, German publisher, born at Stuttgart; established in Tuebingen;
published the works of Goethe, Schiller, Jean Paul, Herder, and others of
note among their contemporaries (1764-1832).
COTTIAN ALPS, the range N. of the Maritime between France and Italy.
COTTIN, SOPHIE, a celebrated French authoress; wrote, among other
romances, the well-known and extensively translated "Elizabeth; or, the
Exiles of Siberia," a wildly romantic but irreproachably moral tale
(1773-1807).
COTTLE, JOSEPH, a publisher and author; started business in Bristol;
published the works of Coleridge and Southey on generous terms; wrote in
his "Early Recollections" an exposure of Coleridge that has been severely
criticised and generally condemned (1770-1853).
COTTON, BISHOP, born at Chester; eminent as a master at Rugby under
Dr. Arnold, and as head-master at Marlborough College; was appointed
Bishop of Calcutta, an office he fulfilled zealously; was drowned in the
Ganges; he figures as "the young master" in "Tom Brown's School-days"
(1813-1866).
COTTON, CHARLES, a poet, born in Staffordshire; his poetry was of
the burlesque order, and somewhat gross; chiefly famous for his
translation of "Montaigne's Essays"; was friend and admirer of Isaak
Walton, and wrote a supplement to his "Angler" (1630-1687).
COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE, a distinguished antiquary, and founder of
the Cottonian Library, now in the British Museum, born at Denton; was a
friend of Camden, and assisted him in his great work; was a great
book-collector; was exposed to persecution for his presumed share in the
publication of an obnoxious book, of which the original was found in his
collection; had his books, in which he prided himself, taken from him, in
consequence of which he pined and died (1571-1631).
COUCY, an old noble family of Picardy, who had for device, "Roi ne
suis, ne duc, ne comte aussi; je suis le sire de Coucy." RAOUL, a
court-poet of the family in the 12th century, lost his life at the siege
of Acre in the third crusade.
COULOMB, a learned French physicist and engineer, born at Angouleme;
the inventor of the torsion balance, and to whose labours many
discoveries in electricity and magnetism are due; lived through the
French Revolution retired from the strife (1736-1806).
COUNCILS, CHURCH, assemblies of bishops to decide questions of
doctrine and ecclesiastical discipline. They are oecumenical, national,
or provincial, according as the bishops assembled represented the whole
Church, a merely national one, or a provincial section of it. Eastern:
Nice, 325 (at which Arius was condemned), 787; Constantinople, 381 (at
which Apollinaris was condemned), 553, 680, 869; Ephesus, 431 (at which
Nestorius was condemned); Chalcedon, 451 (at which Eutyches was
condemned). Western: Lateran, 1123, 1139, 1179, 1215, 1274; Synod of
Vienne, 1311; Constance, 1414; Basel, 1431-1443; Trent, 1545-1563;
Vatican, 1869.
COURAYES, a French Roman Catholic ecclesiastic who pled on behalf of
Anglican orders; was censured; fled to England, where he was welcomed,
and received academic honours (1681-1777).
COURBET, a French vice-admiral, born at Abbeville; distinguished
himself by his rapid movements and brilliant successes in the East
(1827-1885).
COURBET, GUSTAVE, French painter, born at Ornans; took to
landscape-painting; was head of the Realistic school; joined the Commune
in 1871; his property and pictures were sold to pay the damage done, and
especially to restore the Vendome Column; died an exile in Switzerland
(1819-1877).
COURIER, PAUL LOUIS, a French writer, born at Paris; began life as a
soldier, but being wounded at Wagram, retired from the army, and gave
himself to letters; distinguished himself as the author of political
pamphlets, written with a scathing irony such as has hardly been
surpassed, which brought him into trouble; was assassinated on his estate
by his gamekeeper (1772-1825).
COURLAND (637), a partly wooded and partly marshy province of
Russia, S. of the Gulf of Riga; the population chiefly German, and
Protestants; agriculture their chief pursuit.
COURT DE GEBELIN, a French writer, born at Nimes, author of a work
entitled "The Primitive World analysed and compared with the Modern
World" (1725-1784).
COURTNEY, WILLIAM, archbishop of Canterbury, no match for Wickliffe
in debate, but had his revenge in persecuting his followers (1341-1396).
COURTOIS, JACQUES, a French painter of battle-pieces; became a
Jesuit, died a monk (1621-1676).
COURTRAIS (29), a Belgian town on the Lys.
COUSIN, VICTOR, a French philosopher, born in Paris; founder of an
eclectic school, which derived its doctrines partly from the Scottish
philosophy and partly from the German, and which Dr. Chalmers in his
class-room one day characterised jocularly as neither Scotch nor German,
but just half seas over; he was a lucid expounder, an attractive
lecturer, and exerted no small influence on public opinion in France; had
a considerable following; retired from public life in 1848, and died at
Cannes; he left a number of philosophic works behind him, the best known
among us "Discourses on the True, the Beautiful, and the Good"
(1792-1867).
COUSIN MICHAEL, a disparaging designation of our German kindred, as
slow, heavy, unpolished, and ungainly.
COUSIN-MONTAUBAN, a French general, commanded the Chinese expedition
of 1860, and, after a victory over the Chinese, took possession of Pekin
(1796-1878).
COUSINS, SAMUEL, a mezzotint engraver, born at Exeter; engraved
"Bolton Abbey," "Marie Antoinette in the Temple," and a number of plates
after eminent painters; left a fund to aid poor artists (1801-1880).
COUSTON, the name of three eminent French sculptors: NICOLAS
(1658-1733); GUILLAUME, father (1678-1746); and GUILLAUME, son
(1716-1777).
COUTHON, GEORGES, a violent revolutionary, one of a triumvirate with
Robespierre and St. Just, who would expel every one from the Jacobin Club
who could not give evidence of having done something to merit hanging,
should a counter-revolution arrive; was paralysed in his limbs from
having had to spend a night "sunk to the middle in a cold peat bog" to
escape detection as a seducer; trapped for the guillotine; tried to make
away with himself under a table, but could not (1756-1794).
COUTTS, THOMAS, a banker, born in Edinburgh, his father having been
Lord Provost of that city; joint-founder and eventually sole manager of
the London banking house, Coutts & Co.; left a fortune of L900,000
(1735-1822).
COUVADE, a custom among certain races of low culture in which a
father before and after childbirth takes upon himself the duties and
cares of the mother.
COUZA, PRINCE, born at Galatz, hereditary prince of Moldavia and
Wallachia; reigned from 1858 to 1860; died in exile, 1873.
COVENANT, SOLEMN LEAGUE AND, an engagement, with representatives
from Scotland, on the part of the English Parliament to secure to the
Scotch the terms of their National Covenant, and signed by honourable
members in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, September 25, 1643, on the
condition of assistance from the Scotch in their great struggle with the
king.
COVENANT, THE NATIONAL, a solemn engagement on the part of the
Scottish nation subscribed to by all ranks of the community, the first
signature being appended to it in the Greyfriars' Churchyard, Edinburgh,
on February 28, 1638, to maintain the Presbyterian Church and to resist
all attempts on the part of Charles I. to foist Episcopacy upon it; it
was ratified by the Scottish Parliament in 1640, and subscribed by
Charles II. in 1650 and 1651.
COVENANTERS, a body of strict Presbyterians who held out against the
breach of the Solemn League and Covenant.
COVENT GARDEN, properly Convent Garden, as originally the garden of
Westminster Abbey, the great fruit, flower, and vegetable market of
London; is one of the sights of London early on a summer morning.
COVENTRY (55), a town in Warwickshire, 181/2 m. SE. of Birmingham;
famous for the manufacture of ribbons and watches, and recently the chief
seat of the manufacture of bicycles and tricycles; in the old streets are
some quaint old houses; there are some very fine churches and a number of
charitable institutions.
COVENTRY, SIR JOHN, a member of the Long Parliament; when, as a
member of Parliament in Charles II.'s reign, he made reflections on the
profligate conduct of the king, he was set upon by bullies, who slit his
nose to the bone; a deed which led to the passing of the Coventry Act,
which makes cutting and maiming a capital offence (1640-1682).
COVERDALE, MILES, translator of the English Bible, born in
Yorkshire; his translation was the first issued under royal sanction,
being dedicated to Henry VIII.; done at the instance of Thomas Cromwell,
and brought out in 1535, and executed with a view to secure the favour of
the authorities in Church and State, displaying a timid hesitancy
unworthy of a manly faith in the truth; both he and his translation
nevertheless were subjected to persecution, 2500 copies of the latter,
printed in Paris, having been seized by the Inquisition and committed to
the flames (1487-1568).
COVERLEY, SIR ROGER DE, member of the club under whose auspices the
_Spectator_ is professedly edited; represents an English squire of Queen
Anne's reign.
COWELL, JOHN, an English lawyer, author of "Institutes of the Laws
of England" and of a law dictionary burnt by the common hangman for
matter in it derogatory to the royal authority; _d_. 1611.
COWEN, FREDERICK HYMEN, a popular English composer, born in
Kingston, Jamaica; his works consist of symphonies, cantatas, oratories,
as well as songs, duets, &c.; is conductor of the Manchester Subscription
Concerts in succession to Sir Charles Halle; _b_. 1852.
COWES, a watering-place in the N. of the Isle of Wight, separated by
the estuary of Medina into E. and W.; engaged in yacht-building, and the
head-quarters of the Royal Yacht Club.
COWLEY, ABRAHAM, poet and essayist, born in London; a contemporary
of Milton, whom he at one time outshone, but has now fallen into neglect;
he was an ardent royalist, and catered to the taste of the court, which,
however, brought him no preferment at the Restoration; he was a master of
prose, and specially excelled in letter-writing; he does not seem to have
added much to the literature of England, except as an essayist, and in
this capacity has been placed at the head of those who cultivated that
clear, easy, and natural style which culminated in Addison (1618-1667).
COWLEY, HENRY WELLESLEY, EARL, an eminent diplomatist, brother of
the Duke of Wellington; served as a diplomatist in Vienna,
Constantinople, and Switzerland, and was ambassador to France from 1852
to 1867 (1804-1884).
COWPER, WILLIAM, a popular English poet, born at Great
Berkhampstead, Hertford, of noble lineage; lost his mother at six, and
cherished the memory of her all his days; of a timid, sensitive nature,
suffered acutely from harsh usage at school; read extensively in the
classics; trained for and called to the bar; was appointed at 32 a clerk
to the House of Lords; qualifying for the duties of the appointment
proved too much for him, and he became insane; when he recovered, he
retired from the world to Huntingdon beside a brother, where he formed an
intimacy with a family of the name of Unwin, a clergyman in the place; on
Mr. Unwin's death he removed with the family to Olney, in
Buckinghamshire, where he lived as a recluse and associated with the Rev.
John Newton and Mrs. Unwin; shortly after he fell insane again, and
continued so for two years; on his recovery he took to gardening and
composing poems, his first the "Olney Hymns," the melancholy being
charmed away by the conversation of a Lady Austin, who came to live in
the neighbourhood; it was she who suggested his greatest poem, the
"Task"; then followed other works, change of scene and associates, the
death of Mrs. Unwin, and the gathering of a darker and darker cloud, till
he passed away peacefully; it is interesting to note that it is to this
period his "Lines to Mary Unwin" and his "Mother's Picture" belong
(1731-1800).
COX, DAVID, an eminent landscape painter, rated by some next to
Turner, born at Birmingham; began his art as a scene-painter; painted as
a landscapist first in water-colour, then in oil; many of his best works
are scenes in N. Wales; his works have risen in esteem and value; an
ambition of his was to get L100 for a picture, and one he got only L20
for brought L3602 (1793-1830).
COX, SIR GEORGE, an English mythologist, specially distinguished for
resolving the several myths of Greece and the world into idealisations of
solar phenomena; he has written on other subjects, all of interest, and
is engaged with W. T. Brande on a "Dictionary of Science, Literature, and
Art"; _b_. 1827.
COXCIE, MICHAEL, a celebrated Flemish painter, born at Mechlin
(1497-1592).
COXE, HENRY OCTAVIUS, librarian, became assistant-librarian of the
Bodleian Library, Oxford, in 1838, and ultimately head-librarian in 1860;
under his direction the catalogue, consisting of 720 folio volumes, was
completed; held this post till his death; has edited several works of
value; is one of Dean Burgon's "Twelve Good Men" (1811-1881).
COXE, WILLIAM, a historical writer, heavy but painstaking, born in
London; wrote "History of the House of Austria" and the "Memoirs of
Marlborough," and on "Sir Robert Walpole and the Pelham Administrations"
(1747-1828).
COXWELL, a celebrated English aeronaut; bred a dentist; took to
ballooning; made 700 ascents; reached with Glaisher an elevation of 7 m.;
_b_. 1819.
COZENS, JOHN ROBERT, a landscape painter, a natural son of Peter the
Great; pronounced by Constable the greatest genius that ever touched
landscape, and from him Turner confessed he had learned more than from
any other landscapist; his mind gave way at last, and he died insane
(1752-1801).
CRABBE, GEORGE, an English poet, born at Aldborough, in Suffolk;
began life as apprentice to an apothecary with a view to the practice of
medicine, but having poetic tastes, he gave up medicine for literature,
and started for London with a capital of three pounds; his first
productions in this line not meeting with acceptance, he was plunged in
want; appealing in vain for assistance in his distress, he fell in with
Burke, who liberally helped him and procured him high patronage, under
which he took orders and obtained the living of Trowbridge, which he held
for life, and he was now in circumstances to pursue his bent; his
principal poems are "The Library," "The Village," "The Parish Register,"
"The Borough," and the "Tales of the Hall," all, particularly the earlier
ones, instinct with interest in the lives of the poor, "the sacrifices,
temptations, loves, and crimes of humble life," described with the most
"unrelenting" realism; the author in Byron's esteem, "though Nature's
sternest painter, yet the best" (1754-1832).
CRACOW (75), a city in Galicia, the old capital of Poland; where the
old Polish kings were buried, and the cathedral of which contains the
graves of the most illustrious of the heroes of the country and
Thorwaldsen's statue of Christ; a large proportion of the inhabitants are
Jews.
CRADLE MOUNTAIN, a mountain in the W. of Tasmania.
CRAIG, JOHN, a Scottish Reformer, educated at St. Andrews, and
originally a Dominican monk; had been converted to Protestantism by study
of Calvin's "Institutes," been doomed to the stake by the Inquisition,
but had escaped; the coadjutor in Edinburgh of Knox, and his successor in
his work, and left a confession and catechism (1512-1580).
CRAIG, SIR THOMAS, an eminent Scottish lawyer, author of a treatise
on the "Jus Feudale," which has often been reprinted, as well as three
others in Latin of less note; wrote in Latin verse a poem on Queen Mary's
marriage to Darnley (1538-1608).
CRAIGENPUTTOCK, a craig or whinstone hill of the puttocks (small
hawks), "a high moorland farm on the watershed between Dumfriesshire and
Galloway, 10 m. from Dumfries," the property for generations of a family
of Welshes, and eventually that of their heiress, Jane Welsh Carlyle,
"the loneliest spot in all the British dominions," which the Carlyles
made their dwelling-house in 1828, where they remained for seven years,
and where "Sartor" was written. "It is certain," Carlyle says of it long
after, "that for living and thinking in I have never since found in the
world a place so favourable.... How blessed," he exclaims, "might poor
mortals be in the straitest circumstances if their wisdom and fidelity to
heaven and to one another were adequately great!"
CRAIK, GEORGE LITTLE, an English author, born in Fife, educated at
St. Andrews; settled early in London as a litterateur; was associated
with Charles Knight in his popular literary undertakings; was author of
the "Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties," and the "History of
English Literature and Learning"; edited "Pictorial History of England,"
contributed to "Penny Cyclopaedia," and became professor of English
Literature, Queen's College, Belfast (1799-1866).
CRAIK, MRS., _nee_ MULOCK, born at Stoke-upon-Trent; authoress
of "John Halifax, Gentleman," her chief work, which has had, and
maintains, a wide popularity; married in 1865 a nephew and namesake of
the preceding, a partner of the publishing house of Macmillan & Co.;
wrote for the magazines, besides some 14 more novels (1826-1887).
CRAIL, a little old-fashioned town near the East Neuk of Fife, where
James Sharp was minister; a decayed fishing-place, now a summer resort.
CRAMER, JOHANN BAPTIST, a distinguished German composer and pianist
(1771-1858).
CRANACH, LUCAS, a celebrated German painter, born at Kronach, in the
bishopric of Bamberg; was patronised by Frederick the Wise, Elector of
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