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THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME VII SLICE IV
Coquelin to Costume
Articles in This Slice
COQUELIN, BENOÎT CONSTANT CORNWALL (city of England) COQUEREL, ATHANASE JOSUÉ CORNWALLIS, CHARLES CORNWALLIS COQUEREL, ATHANASE LAURENT CHARLES CORNWALLIS, SIR WILLIAM COQUES, GONZALEZ CORO COQUET (river of Northumberland) COROMANDEL COAST COQUET (simulate love-making) CORONA COQUIMBO CORONACH CORACLE CORONADO, FRANCISCO VASQUEZ DE CORAËS, ADAMANTIOS CORONATION CORAL CORONER CORALLIAN CORONIUM CORAL-REEFS COROT, JEAN-BAPTISTE CAMILLE CORAM, THOMAS CORPORAL COR ANGLAIS CORPORAL PUNISHMENT CORATO CORPORATION CORBAN CORPS CORBEIL, WILLIAM OF CORPSE CORBEIL (town of northern France) CORPULENCECOQUELIN, BENOÎT CONSTANT (1841-1909), French actor, known as Coquelin aîné, was born at Boulogne on the 23rd of January 1841. He was originally intended to follow his father’s trade of baker (he was once called un boulanger manqué by a hostile critic), but his love of acting led him to the Conservatoire, where he entered Regnier’s class in 1859. He won the first prize for comedy within a year, and made his début on the 7th of December 1860 at the Comédie Française as the comic valet, Gros-René, in Molière’s Dépit amoureux, but his first great success was as Figaro, in the following year. He was made sociétaire in 1864, and during the next twenty-two years he created at the Français the leading parts in forty-four new plays, including Théodore de Banville’s Gringoire (1867), Paul Ferrier’s Tabarin (1871), Émile Augier’s Paul Forestier (1871), L’Étrangère (1876) by the younger Dumas, Charles Lomon’s Jean Dacier (1877), Edward Pailleron’s Le Monde où l’on s’ennuie (1881), Erckmann and Chatrian’s Les Rantzau (1884). In consequence of a dispute with the authorities over the question of his right to make provincial tours in France he resigned in 1886. Three years later, however, the breach was healed; and after a successful series of tours in Europe and the United States he rejoined the Comédie Française as pensionnaire in 1890. It was during this period that he took the part of Labussière, in the production of Sardou’s’ Thermidor, which was interdicted by the government after three performances. In 1892 he broke definitely with the Comédie Française, and toured for some time through the capitals of Europe with a company of his own. In 1895 he joined the Renaissance theatre in Paris, and played there until he became director of the Porte Saint Martin in 1897. Here he won successes in Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), Émile Bergerat’s Plus que reine (1899), Catulle Mendès’ Scarron (1905), and Alfred Capus and Lucien Descaves’ L’Attentat (1906). In 1900 he toured in America with Sarah Bernhardt, and on their return continued with his old colleague to appear in L’Aiglon, at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt. He was rehearsing for the creation of the leading part in Rostand’s Chantecler, which he was to produce, when he died suddenly in Paris, on the 27th of January 1909. Coquelin was an Officier de l’Instruction Publique and of the Legion of Honour. He published L’Art et le comédien (1880), Molière et le misanthrope (1881), essays on Eugène Manuel (1881) and Sully-Prudhomme (1882), L’Arnolphe de Molière (1882), Les Comédiens (1882), L’Art de dire le monologue (with his brother, 1884), Tartuffe (1884), L’Art du comédien (1894).
His brother, Ernest Alexandre Honoré Coquelin (1848-1909), called Coquelin cadet, was born on the 16th of May 1848 at Boulogne, and entered the Conservatoire in 1864. He graduated with the first prize in comedy and made his début in 1867 at the Odéon. The next year he appeared with his brother at the Théâtre Francais and became a sociétaire in 1879. He played a great many parts, in both the classic and the modern répertoire, and also had much success in reciting monologues of his own composition. He wrote Le Livre des convalescents (1880), Le Monologue moderne (1881), Fairiboles (1882), Le Rire (1887), Pirouettes (1888). He died on the 8th of February 1909.
Jean Coquelin (1865- ), son of Coquelin aîné, was also an actor, first at the Théâtre Francais (début, 1890), later at the Renaissance, and then at the Porte Saint Martin, where he created the part of Raigoné in Cyrano de
COQUEREL, ATHANASE JOSUÉ (1820-1875), French Protestant divine, son of A. L. C. Coquerel (q.v.), was born at Amsterdam on the 16th of June 1820. He studied theology at Geneva and at Strassburg, and at an early age succeeded his uncle, C. A. Coquerel, as editor of Le Lien, a post which he held till 1870. In 1852 he took part in establishing the Nouvelle Revue de théologie, the first periodical of scientific theology published in France, and in the same year helped to found the “Historical Society of French Protestantism.” Meanwhile he had gained a high reputation as a preacher, and especially as the advocate of religious freedom; but his teaching became more and more offensive to the orthodox party, and on the appearance (1864) of his article on Renan’s Vie de Jésus in the Nouvelle Revue de théologie he was forbidden by the Paris consistory to continue his ministerial functions. He received an address of sympathy from the consistory of Anduze, and a provision was voted for him by the Union Protestante Libérale, to enable him to continue his preaching. He received the cross of the Legion of Honour in 1862. He died at Fismes (Marne), on the 24th of July 1875. His chief works were Jean Calas et sa famille (1858); Des Beaux-Arts en Italie (Eng. trans. 1859); La Saint Barthélemy (1860); Précis de l’église réformée (1862); Le Catholicisme et le protestantisme considérés dans leur origine et leur développement (1864); Libres études, and La Conscience et la foi (1867).
COQUEREL, ATHANASE LAURENT CHARLES (1795-1868), French Protestant divine, was born in Paris on the 17th of August 1795. He received his early education from his aunt, Helen Maria Williams, an Englishwoman, who at the close of the 18th century gained a reputation by various translations and by her Letters from France. He completed his theological studies at the Protestant seminary of Montauban, and in 1816 was ordained minister. In 1817 he was invited to become pastor of the chapel of St Paul at Jersey, but he declined, being unwilling to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. During the following twelve years he resided in Holland, and preached before Calvinistic congregations at Amsterdam, Leiden and Utrecht. In 1830, at the suggestion of Baron Georges de Cuvier, then minister of Protestant worship, Coquerel was called to Paris as pastor of the Reformed Church. In the course of 1833 he was chosen a member of the consistory, and rapidly acquired the reputation of a great pulpit orator, but his liberal views brought him into antagonism with the rigid Calvinists. He took a warm interest in all matters of education, and distinguished himself so much by his defence of the university of Paris against a sharp attack, that in 1835 he was chosen a member of the consistory of the Legion of Honour. In 1841 appeared his Réponse to the Leben Jesu of Strauss. After the revolution of February 1848, Coquerel was elected a member of the National Assembly, where he sat as a moderate republican, subsequently becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly. He supported the first ministry of Louis Napoleon, and gave his vote in favour of the expedition to Rome and the restoration of the temporal power of the pope. After the coup d’état of the 2nd of December 1851, he confined himself to the duties of his pastorate. He was a prolific writer, as well as a popular and eloquent speaker. He died at Paris on the 10th of January 1868. A large collection of his sermons was published in 8 vols. between 1819 and 1852. Other works were Biographie sacrée (1825-1826); Histoire sainte et analyse de la Bible (1839); Orthodoxie moderne (1842); Christologie (1858), &c.
His brother, Charles Augustin Coquerel (1797-1851), was the author of a work on English literature (1828), an Essai sur l’histoire générale du christianisme (1828) and a Histoire des églises du désert, depuis la revocation de l’édit de Nantes (1841). A liberal in his views, he was the founder and editor of the Annales protestantes, Le Lien, and the Revue protestante.
COQUES (or Cocx), GONZALEZ (1614-1684), Flemish painter, son of Pieter Willemsen Cocx, a respectable Flemish citizen, and not, as his name might imply, a Spaniard, was born at Antwerp. At the age of twelve he entered the house of Pieter, the son of “Hell” Breughel, an obscure portrait painter, and at the expiration of his time as an apprentice became a journeyman in the workshop of David Ryckaert the second, under whom he made accurate studies of still life. At twenty-six he matriculated in the gild of St Luke; he then married Ryckaert’s daughter, and in 1653 joined the literary and dramatic club known as the “Retorijkerkamer.” After having been made president of his gild in 1665, and in 1671 painter in ordinary to Count Monterey, governor-general of the Low Countries, he married again in 1674, and died full of honours in his native place. One of his canvases in the gallery at the Hague represents a suite of rooms hung with pictures, in which the artist himself may be seen at a table with his wife and two children, surrounded by masterpieces composed and signed by several contemporaries. Partnership in painting was common amongst the small masters of the Antwerp school; and it has been truly said of Coques that he employed Jacob von Arthois for landscapes, Ghering and van Ehrenberg for architectural backgrounds, Steenwijck the younger for rooms, and Pieter Gysels for still life and flowers; but the model upon which Coques formed himself was Van Dyck, whose sparkling touch and refined manner he imitated with great success. He never ventured beyond the “cabinet,” but in this limited field the family groups of his middle time are full of life, brilliant from the sheen of costly dress and sparkling play of light and shade, combined with finished execution and enamelled surface.
COQUET (pronounced Cócket), a river of Northumberland, draining a beautiful valley about 40 m. in length. It rises in the Cheviot Hills. Following a course generally easterly, but greatly winding, it passes Harbottle, near which relics of the Stone Age are seen, and Holystone, where it is recorded that Bishop Paulinus baptized a great body of Northumbrians in the year 627. Several earthworks crown hills above this part of the valley, and at Cartington, Fosson and Whitton are relics of medieval border fortifications. The small town of Rothbury is beautifully situated beneath the ragged Simonside Hills. The river dashes through a narrow gully called the Thrum, and then passes Brinkburn priory, of which the fine Transitional Norman church was restored to use in 1858, while there are fragments of the monastic buildings. This was an Augustinian foundation of the time of Henry I. The dale continues well wooded and very beautiful until Warkworth is reached, with its fine castle and remarkable hermitage. A short distance below this the Coquet has its mouth in Alnwick Bay (North Sea), with the small port of Amble on the south bank, and Coquet Island a mile out to sea. The river is frequented by sportsmen for salmon and trout fishing. No important tributary is received, and the drainage area does not exceed 240 sq. m.
COQUET (pronounced co-kétte), to simulate the arts of love-making, generally from motives of personal vanity, to flirt; in a figurative sense, to trifle or dilly-dally with anything. The word is derived from the French coqueter, which originally means, “to strut about like a cock-bird,” i.e. when it
COQUIMBO, an important city and port of the province and department of Coquimbo, Chile, in 29° 57′ 4″ S., 71° 21′ 12″ W. Pop. (1895) 7322. The railway connexions are with Ovalle to the S., and Vicuña (or Elqui) to the E., but the proposed extension northward of Chile’s longitudinal system would bring Coquimbo into direct communication with Santiago. The city has a good well-sheltered harbour, reputed the best in northern Chile, and is the port of La Serena, the provincial capital, 9 m. distant, with which it is connected by rail. There are large copper-smelting establishments in the city, which exports a very large amount of copper, some gold and silver, and cattle and hay to the more northern provinces.
The province of Coquimbo, which lies between those of Aconcagua and Atacama and extends from the Pacific inland to the Argentine frontier, has an area of 13,461 sq. m. (official estimate) and a population (1895) of 160,898. It is less arid than the province of Atacama, the surface near the coast being broken by well-watered river valleys, which produce alfalfa, and pasture cattle for export. Near the mountains grapes are grown, from which wine of a good quality is made. The mineral resources include extensive deposits of copper, and some less important mines of gold and silver. The climate is dry and healthy, and there are occasional rains. Several rivers, the largest of which is the Coquimbo (or Elqui) with a length of 125 m., cross the province from the mountains. The capital is La Serena, and the principal cities are Coquimbo, Ovalle (pop. 5565), and Illapel (3170).
CORACLE (Welsh corwg-l, from corwg, cf. Irish and mod. Gaelic curach, boat), a species of ancient British fishing-boat which is still extensively used on the Severn and other rivers of Wales, notably on the Towy and Teifi. It is a light boat, oval in shape, and formed of canvas stretched on a framework of split and interwoven rods, and well-coated with tar and pitch to render it water-tight. According to early writers the framework was covered with horse or bullock hide (corium). So light and portable are these boats that they can easily be carried on the fisherman’s shoulders when proceeding to and from his work. Coracle-fishing is performed by two men, each seated in his coracle and with one hand holding the net while with the other he plies his paddle. When a fish is caught, each hauls up his end of the net until the two coracles are brought to touch and the fish is then secured. The coracle forms a unique link between the modern life of Wales and its remote past; for this primitive type of boat was in existence amongst the Britons at the time of the invasion of Julius Caesar, who has left a description of it, and even employed it in his Spanish campaign.
CORAËS (Koraïs), ADAMANTIOS [in French, Diamant Coray] (1748-1833), Greek scholar and patriot, was born at Smyrna, the son of a merchant. As a schoolboy he distinguished himself in the study of ancient Greek, but from 1772 to 1779 he was occupied with the management of his father’s business affairs in Amsterdam. In 1782, on the collapse of his father’s business, he went to Montpellier, where for six years he studied medicine, supporting himself by translating German and English medical works into French. He then settled in Paris, where he lived until his death on the 10th of April 1833. Inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, he devoted himself to furthering the cause of Greek independence both among the Greeks themselves and by awakening the interest of the chief European Powers against the Turkish rule. His great object was to rouse the enthusiasm of the Greeks for the idea that they were the true descendants of the ancient Hellenes by teaching them to regard as their own inheritance the great works of antiquity. He sought to purify the ordinary written language by eliminating the more obvious barbarisms, and by enriching it with classical words and others invented in strict accordance with classical tradition (see further Greek Language: modern). Under his influence, though the common patois was practically untouched, the language of literature and intellectual intercourse was made to approximate to the pure Attic of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. His chief works are his editions of Greek authors contained in his Έλληνικὴ Βιβλιοθήκη and his Πάρεργα; his editions of the Characters of Theophrastus, of the De aëre, aquis, et locis of Hippocrates, and of the Aethiopica of Heliodorus, elaborately annotated.