Character Sketches of Romance Volume I Part 80

COMEDY OF ERRORS, by Shakespeare (1593), Aemilia, wife of aegeon, had two sons at a birth, and named both of them Antipholus. When grown to manhood, each of these sons had a slave named Dromio, also twin-brothers. The brothers Antipholus had been shipwrecked in infancy, and being picked up by different vessels, were carried one to Syracuse and the other to Ephesus. The play supposes that Antipholus of Syracuse goes in search of his brother, and coming to Ephesus with his slave, Dromio, a series of mistakes arises from the extraordinary likeness of the two brothers and their two slaves. Adriana, the wife of the Ephesian, mistakes the Syracusan for her husband; but he behaves so strangely that her jealousy is aroused, and when her true husband arrives he is arrested as a mad man. Soon after, the Syracusan brother being seen, the wife, supposing it to be her mad husband broken loose, sends to capture him; but he flees into a convent.

Adriana now lays her complaint before the duke, and the lady abbess comes into court. So both brothers face each other, the mistakes are explained, and the abbess turns out to be Aemilia, the mother of the twin brothers. Now, it so happened that aegeon, searching for his son, also came to Ephesus, and was condemned to pay a fine or suffer death, because he, a Syracusan, had set foot in Ephesus. The duke, however, hearing the story, pardoned him. Thus aegeon found his wife in the abbess, the parents their twin sons, and each son his long-lost brother.

[Ill.u.s.tration] The plot of this comedy is copied from the _Menaechmi_ of Plautus.

COMHAL or COMBAL, son of Trathal, and father of Fingal. His queen was Morna, daughter of Thaddu. Comhal was slain in battle, fighting against the tribe of Morni, the very day that Fingal was born.--Ossian.

Fingal said to Aldo, "I was born in the battle."

Ossian, _The Battle of Lora_.

COMINES [_c.u.m'.in_]. Philip des Comines, the favorite minister of Charles, "the Bold," Duke of Burgundy, is introduced by Sir W. Scott, in _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

COMMANDER OF THE FAITHFUL (_Emir al Mumenin_), a t.i.tle a.s.sumed by Omar I., and retained by his successors in the caliphate (581, 634-644).

COMMINGES (_2 syl_.) (_Count de_), the hero of a novel so-called by Mde. de Tencin (1681-1749).

COMMITTEE (_The_), a comedy by the Hon. Sir R. Howard. Mr. Day, a Cromwellite, is the head of a Committee of Sequestration, and is a dishonest, canting rascal, under the thumb of his wife. He gets into his hands the deeds of two heiresses, Anne and Arbella. The former he calls Ruth, and pa.s.ses her off as his own daughter; the latter he wants to marry to his b.o.o.by son Able. Ruth falls in love with Colonel Careless, and Arbella with colonel Blunt. Ruth contrives to get into her hands the deeds, which she delivers over to the two colonels, and when Mr. Day arrives, quiets him by reminding him that she knows of certain deeds which would prove his ruin if divulged (1670).

T. Knight reproduced this comedy as a farce under the t.i.tle of _The Honest Thieves_.

COMMON (_Dol_), an ally of Subtle the alchemist.--Ben Jonson, _The Alchemist_ (1610).

COMMONER (_The Great_), Sir John Barnard, who in 1737 proposed to reduce the interest of the national debt from 4 per cent. to 3 per cent., any creditor being at liberty to receive his princ.i.p.al in full if he preferred it. William Pitt, the statesman, is so called also (1759-1806).

COMNE'NUS (_Alexius_), emperor of Greece, introduced by Sir. W. Scott in _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

_Anna Comne'na_ the historian, daughter of Alexius Comnenus, emperor of Greece.--Same novel.

COMPEYSON, a would-be gentleman and a forger. He duped Abel Magwitch and ruined him, keeping him completely under his influence. He also jilted Miss Havisham.--C. d.i.c.kens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).

COM'RADE (_2 syl_.), the horse given by a fairy to Fortunio.

He has many rare qualities ... first he eats but once in eight days; and then he knows what's past, present, and to come [and speaks with the voice of a man].--Comtesse DAunoy, _Fairy Tales_ ("Fortunio." 1682).

COMUS, the G.o.d of revelry. In Milton's "masque" so called, the "lady"

is lady Alice Egerton, the younger brother is Mr. Thomas Egerton, and the elder brother is Lord Viscount Brackley (eldest son of John, earl of Bridgewater, president of Wales). The lady, weary with long walking, is left in a wood by her two brothers, while they go to gather "cooling fruit" for her. She sings to let them know her whereabouts, and Comus, coming up, promises to conduct her to a cottage till her brothers could be found. The brothers, hearing a noise of revelry, become alarmed about their sister, when her guardian spirit informs them that she has fallen into the hands of Comus. They run to her rescue, and arrive just as the G.o.d is offering his captive a potion; the brothers seize the cup and dash it on the ground, while the spirit invokes Sabri'na, who breaks the spell and releases the lady (1634).

CONACH'AR, the Highland apprentice of Simon Glover, the old glover of Perth. Conachar is in love with his master's daughter, Catharine, called "the fair maid of Perth;" but Catharine loves and ultimately marries Henry Smith, the armorer. Conachar is at a later period Ian Eachin [_Hector_] M'Ian, chief of the clan Quhele.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

CONAR, son of Trenmor, and first "king of Ireland." When the Fir-bolg (or belgae from Britain settled in the _south_ of Ireland) had reduced the Cael (or colony of Caledonians settled in the _north_ of Ireland) to the last extremity by war, the Cael sent to Scotland for aid.

Trathel (grandfather of Fingal) accordingly sent over Conar with an army to their aid; and Conar, having reduced the Fir-bolg to submission, a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of "king of Ireland." Conar was succeeded by his son Cormac I.; Cormac I. by his son Cairbre; Cairbre by his son Artho; Artho by his son Cormac II. (a minor); and Cormac (after a slight interregnum) by Ferad-Artho (restored by Fingal).--Ossian.

CONCORD HYMN, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and beginning:

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world."

was sung on the Anniversary of the Battle of Concord, April 19, 1836.

CONKEY CHICKWEED, the man who robbed himself of 327 guineas, in order to make his fortune by exciting the sympathy of his neighbors and others. The tale is told by detective Blathers.--C. d.i.c.kens, _Oliver Twist_ (1837).

CON'LATH, youngest son of Morni, and brother of the famous Gaul (_a man's name_). Coiilath was betrothed to Cutho'na, daughter of Ruma, but before the espousals Toscar came from Ireland to Mora, and was hospitably received by Morni. Seeing Cuthona out hunting, Toscar carried her off in his skiff by force, and being overtaken by Conlath they both fell in fight. Three days afterwards Cuthona died of grief.--Ossian, _Conlath and Cuthona_.

CONNAL, son of Colgar, petty king of Togorma, and intimate friend of Cuthullin, general of the Irish tribes. He is a kind of Ulysses, who counsels and comforts Cuthullin in his distress, and is the very opposite of the rash, presumptuous, though generous Calmar.--Ossian, _Fingal_.

CON'NEL (_Father_), an aged Catholic priest full of gentle affectionate feelings. He is the patron of a poor vagrant boy called Neddy Fennel, whose adventures furnished the incidents of Banim's novel called _Father Connell_ (1842).

_Father Connell_ is not unworthy of a.s.sociation with the Protestant _Vicar of Wakefield_.--R.

Chambers, _English Literature_, ii. 612.

CONINGSBY, a novel by B. Disraeli. The characters are meant for portraits; thus: "Croker" represents Rigby; "Menmouth," Lord Hertford; "Eskdale," Lowther; "Ormsby," Irving; "Lucretia," Mde. Zichy; "Countess Colonna," Lady Strachan; "Sidonia," Baron A. de Rothschild; "Henry Sidney," Lord John Manners; "Belvoir," Duke of Rutland, second son of Beaumanoir. The hero is of n.o.ble birth, he loves Edith Millbank, the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer, is returned for Parliament and marries Edith.

CONQUEROR (_The_). Alexander the Great, _The Conqueror of the World_ (B.C. 356, 336-323), Alfonso of Portugal (1094, 1137-1185). Aurungzebe the Great, called _Alemgir_ (1618, 1659-4707), James of Aragon (1206, 1213-1276). Othman or Osman I., founder of the Turkish Empire (1259, 1299-1326). Francisco Pizarro, called _Conquistador_, because he conquered Peru (1475-1541). William, duke of Normandy, who obtained England by conquest (1027,1066-1137).

CON'RAD (_Lord_), the corsair, afterwards called Lara. A proud, ascetic but successful pirate. Hearing that the Sultan, Seyd [Seed], was about to attack the pirates, he entered the palace in the disguise of a dervise, but being found out was seized and imprisoned. He was released by Gulnare (_2 syl_.), the sultan's favorite concubine, and fled with her to the Pirates' Isle, but finding Medo'ra dead, he left the island with Gulnare, returned to his native land, headed a rebellion, and was shot.--Lord Byron, _The Corsair_, continued in _Lara_ (1814). CONRAD DRYFOOS, the son of a rich man, the backer and virtual proprietor of _Every Other Week_, in W. D. Howells's novel, _A Hazard of New Fortunes_.

"He's got a good head and he wanted to study for the ministry when they were all living together out on the farm ... You know they used to think that any sort of stuff was good enough to make a preacher out of; but they wanted the good timber for business, and so the old man wouldn't let him."

Foiled in this purpose, Conrad becomes a reformer and receives a mortal wound in the attempt to protect an old Socialist against the police, who are trying to quell a mob of strikers (1890).

CON'RADE (_2 syl._), a follower of Don John (b.a.s.t.a.r.d brother of Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon).--Shakespeare, _Much Ado About Nothing_ (1600).

_Conrade_ (_2 syl._), Marquis of Montserrat, who, with the grand-master of the Templars, conspired against Richard Coeur de Lion. He was unhorsed in combat, and murdered in his tent by the Templar.--Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).

CONSTANCE, mother of Prince Arthur, and widow of Geoffrey Plantagenet.--Shakespeare, _King John_ (1598).

Mrs. Bartley's "Lady Macbeth," "Constance,"

and "Queen Katherine" [_Henry VIII._], were powerful embodiments, and I question if they have ever since been so finely portrayed (1785-1850).--J.

Adolphus, _Recollections_.

_Constance_, daughter of Sir William Fondlove, and courted by Wildrake, a country squire, fond of field sports. "Her beauty rich, richer her grace, her mind yet richer still, though richest all." She was "the mould express of woman, stature, feature, body, limb;" she danced well, sang well, harped well. Wildrake was her childhood's playmate, and became her husband.--S. Knowles, _The Love Chase_ (1837).

_Constance_, daughter of Bertulphe, provost of Bruges, and bride of Bouchard, a knight of Flanders. She had "beauty to shame young love's most fervent dream, virtue to form a saint, with just enough of earth to keep her woman." By an absurd law of Charles "the Good," earl of Flanders, made in 1127, this young lady, brought up in the lap of luxury, was reduced to serfdom, because her grandfather was a serf; her aristocratic husband was also a serf because he married her (a serf). She went mad at the reverse of fortune, and died.--S. Knowles, _The Provost of Bruges_ (1836).

_Constance Varley_. American girl traveling in the East with friends, and bearing with her everywhere the memory of a man she has loved for years in secret. She meets him at Damascus and after some days of pleasant companionship, he resolves to offer his hand to her. The words are upon his tongue, when an unfortunate misunderstanding divides them forever. A year later she marries another man who loves her sincerely without appreciating the finest part of her nature.

A woman quotes at sight of Constance's portrait:

"I discern Infinite pa.s.sion and the pain Of finite hearts that yearn."

"There was a singular suggestion of sadness about the grave sweet eyes, and on the small close mouth."--Julia C. Fletcher, _Mirage_ (1882).

CONSTANS, a mythical king of Britain. He was the eldest of the three sons of Constantine, his two brothers being Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon. Constans was a monk, but at the death of his father he laid aside the cowl for the crown. Vortigern caused him to be a.s.sa.s.sinated, and usurped the crown. Aurelius Ambrosius succeeded Vortigern, and was himself succeeded by his younger brother, Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur. Hence it will appear that Constans was Arthur's uncle.

CONSTANT (_Ned_), the former lover of Lady Brute, with whom she intrigued after her marriage with the surly knight.--Vanbrugh, _The Provoked Wife_ (1697).

_Constant_ (_Sir Bashful_), a younger brother of middle life, who tumbles into an estate and t.i.tle by the death of his elder brother. He marries a woman of quality, but finding; it _comme il faut_ not to let his love be known, treats her with indifference and politeness, and though he dotes on her, tries to make her believe he loves her not.

He is very soft, carried away by the opinions of others, and is an example of the truth of what Dr. Young has said, "What is mere good nature but a fool?"