The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 141

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 a.r.s.enal, 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 publis.h.i.+ng 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 ent.i.tled "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 Was.h.i.+ngton'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 cla.s.sical 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 a.s.sembly, 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.

CORAS, a distinguished h.e.l.lenist, born in Smyrna, of the mercantile cla.s.s; 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 inst.i.tution; 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 j.a.pan Seas, in the lat.i.tude 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 pa.s.sed under j.a.panese influence, and by the Chinese defeat in the war with j.a.pan, 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 j.a.pan; 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).