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The Nuttall Encyclopaedia by Edited by Rev. James Wood

E >> Edited by Rev. James Wood >> The Nuttall Encyclopaedia





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).