The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 134

COLCHESTER (35), the largest town in Ess.e.x, 51 m. from London, on the right bank of the Colne, of great antiquity, and with Roman remains; has been long famous for its oyster fishery; has silk manufactures; is the port of outlet of a large corn-growing district.

COLCHESTER, CHARLES ABBOT, LORD, English statesman; sometime Chief Secretary of Ireland, and Speaker of the House of Commons; raised to the peerage in response to an address of the House of Commons (1757-1829).

COLCHIS, a district on the E. of the Black Sea, and S. of Caucasus, where the Argonauts, according to Greek tradition, found and conquered the Golden Fleece; the natives had a reputation for witchcraft and sorcery.

COLDSTREAM GUARDS, one of the three regiments of Foot Guards; was raised by General Monk in Scotland in 1660, and marched under him from Coldstream to place Charles II. on the throne; originally called Monk's regiment.

COLE, HENRY an English ecclesiastical zealot, who held handsome preferments under Henry VIII. and Mary, but was stripped of them under Edward VI. and Elizabeth.

COLE, KING, a legendary jovial British king, celebrated in song.

COLEBROOKE, HENRY THOMAS, a celebrated Indianist, born in London; served under the East India Company, and devoted his spare time to Indian literature; studied the Sanskrit language, wrote on the Vedas, translated the "Digest of Hindu Law" compiled by Sir William Jones, compiled a Sanskrit Dictionary, and wrote various treatises on the law and philosophy of the Hindus; he was one of the first scholars in Europe to reveal the treasures that lay hid in the literature of the East (1765-1837).

COLENSO, DR., an English clergyman and mathematician; was appointed bishop of Natal in 1845; applied himself to the study of the Zulu language, and translated parts of the Bible and Prayer-book into it; calling in question the accuracy and Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, was deposed by his metropolitan, which deposition was declared null and void by the Privy Council; besides his theological work, produced text-books on arithmetic and algebra; died at Durban, Natal; he favoured the cause of the Zulus against the Boers, and did his utmost to avert the Zulu war (1814-1883).

COLERIDGE, HARTLEY, an English man of letters, eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born at Clevedon, Somerset; lived with his father in the Lake District, and grew up in the society of Wordsworth, De Quincey, and others; gained a Fellowship at Oxford, but forfeited it through intemperance; tried school-mastering at Ambleside, but failed, and took to literature, in which he did some excellent work, both in prose and poetry, though he led all along a very irregular life; had his father's weaknesses, and not a little of his ability; his best memorials as a poet are his sonnets, of which two have been especially admired, "The Soul of Man is Larger than the Sky," and "When I Survey the Course I have Run"

(1796-1849).

COLERIDGE, HENRY NELSON, nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and a great admirer; editor of many of his works, his "Table Talk" in especial (1800-1843).

COLERIDGE, JOHN DUKE, LORD, an English lawyer, cousin of Hartley Coleridge; after serving in inferior appointments, appointed Lord Chief-Justice of England in 1880; when at the bar he was prominent in connection with Tichborne case.

COLERIDGE, SIR JOHN TAYLOR, an English judge, nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; was editor of the _Quarterly_, edited "Blackstone,"

&c.; wrote a "Memoir of the Rev. John Keble" (1790-1876).

COLERIDGE, SAMUEL TAYLOR, poet, philosopher, and critic, born in Devonshire; pa.s.sionately devoted to cla.s.sical and metaphysical studies; educated at Christ's Hospital; had Charles Lamb for schoolmate; at Cambridge devoted himself to cla.s.sics; falling into debt enlisted as a soldier, and was, after four months, bought off by his friends; gave himself up to a literary life; married, and took up house near Wordsworth, in Somersetshire, where he produced the "Ancient Mariner,"

"Christabel," and "Remorse"; preached occasionally in Unitarian pulpits; visited Germany and other parts of the Continent; lectured in London in 1808; when there took to opium, broke off the habit in 1816, and went to stay with the Gillmans at Highgate as their guest, under whose roof, after four years' confinement to a sick-room, he died; among his works were "The Friend," his "Biographia Literaria," "Aids to Reflection," &c., published in his lifetime, and "Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit,"

"Literary Remains," and "Table Talk" after his death; he was a man of subtle and large intellect, and exercised a great influence on the thinkers of his time, though in no case was the influence a decisive one, as it had the most opposite effects on different minds; his philosophy was hazy, and his life was without aim, "once more the tragic story of a high endowment with an insufficient will" (1772-1834). See Carlyle's estimate of him in the "Life of Sterling."

COLERIDGE, SARAH, poetess, only daughter of preceding; her sole poem, "Phantasmion"; left "Letters" of interest (1803-1852).

COLES, COWPER PHIPPS, an English naval captain and architect; entered the navy at 11; distinguished himself at Sebastopol; designer of the turret-ship the _Captain_, which capsized off Finisterre, himself on board, and drowned with a crew of 500 men (1819-1870).

COLET, JOHN, dean of St. Paul's, a patron of learning, a friend and scholar of Erasmus, a liberal and much persecuted man; far in advance of his time; founded and endowed St. Paul's School; wrote a number of works, chiefly theological, and "Letters to Erasmus"' (1466-1519).

COLET, LOUISE, a French literary lady, born at Aix; wrote numerous works for the young (1808-1876).

COLIGNY, GASPARD DE, French admiral, born at Chatillon; a leader of the Huguenots; began his life and distinguished himself as a soldier; when the Guises came into power he busied himself in procuring toleration for the Huguenots, and succeeded in securing in their behalf what is known as the Pacification of Amboise, but on St. Bartholomew's Eve he fell the first victim to the conspiracy in his bed; was thrown out of the window, and exposed to every manner of indignity in the streets, though it is hard to believe that the Duke of Guise, as is said, demeaned himself to kick the still living body (1517-1572).

COLIMA (25), capital of a State of the same name in Mexico.

COLIN CLOUT, the name Spenser a.s.sumes in the "Shepherd's Calendar."

COLIN TAMPON, the nickname of a Swiss, as John Bull of an Englishman.

COLISE'UM, a magnificent amphitheatre in Rome, begun under Vespasian and finished under t.i.tus; it rose from the area by 80 tiers of seats, and could contain 80,000 spectators; it was here the gladiators fought with wild beasts, and also the early Christians.

COLLATINUS, the nephew of Tarquinius Priscus, the husband of Lucretia, and with Brutus, her avenger, the first consul of Rome.

COLLECTIVISM, the Socialistic doctrine that industry should be carried on by capital as the joint property of the community.

COLLeGE DE FRANCE, an inst.i.tution founded at Paris by Francis I. in 1530, where instruction is given to advanced students in several departments of knowledge.

COLLIER, ARTHUR, an English metaphysician, born in Wilts; studied Descartes and Malebranche, and who, antic.i.p.ating Berkeley, published a "Demonstration of the Non-Existence and the Impossibility of an External World" (1680-1732). See BERKELEY.

COLLIER, JEREMY, an English non-juring divine, refused to take oath at the Revolution; was imprisoned for advocating the rights of the Stuarts; had to flee the country at length, and was outlawed; wrote with effect against "The Profaneness and Immorality of the Stage," as well as an "Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain," and a translation of the "Meditations of Marcus Aurelius" (1650-1726).

COLLIER, JOHN PAYNE, a Shakespearian commentator and critic; wrote a great deal on various subjects, but got into trouble by his emendations of Shakespeare (1789-1883).

COLLINGWOOD, CUTHBERT, LORD, a celebrated English admiral, entered the navy at 13; his career was intimately connected all along with that of Nelson; succeeded in command when Nelson fell at Trafalgar, and when he died himself, which happened at sea, his body was brought home and buried beside Nelson's in St. Paul's Cathedral (1740-1810).

COLLINS, ANTHONY, an English deist, an intimate friend of Locke; his princ.i.p.al works were "Discourse on Freethinking," "Philosophical Inquiry into Liberty and Necessity," and "Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion," which gave rise to much controversy; he was a necessitarian, and argued against revelation (1676-1729).

COLLINS, MORTIMER, a versatile genius, born at Plymouth; wrote poems, novels, and essays; was the author of "Who was the Heir?" and "Sweet Anne Page"; was a tall, handsome man, fond of athletics, a delightful companion, and dear to his friends (1827-1876).

COLLINS, WILKIE, English novelist, son of the succeeding, born in London; tried business, then law, and finally settled to literature; his novel "The Woman in White" was the first to take with the public, and was preceded and succeeded by others which have ensured for him a high place among the writers of fiction (1824-1889).