are highly worthy of attention. St. Michael's church is a beautiful specimen of the pointed style of architecture. There are places of worship for Roman Catholics, Independents, Dissenters, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists and Quakers; also various charitable institutions, 2 hospitals, alms-houses and charity schools. The principal manufactures are those of ribbons and watches. Two representatives to parliament are now elected by the freemen, amounting to nearly 4000. A weekly market is held here on Friday; and there are several fairs, one of which is called the great or show fair, and continues 8 days; on the first day of which is celebrated the grand procession of lady Godiva and her followers. This celebration is founded on the following story: It is said that Leofric, earl of Mercia, who possessed the property of the tolls and services of Coventry, exacted his dues so rigidly, that the inhabitants were greatly aggrieved, and at length Godiva, his pious wife, became their advocate. The earl, wearied by her solicitations, promised to grant her request, if she would ride naked through the town at mid-day. His terms, according to the legend, were accepted, and the countess rode through the town with no covering but her flowing tresses. It is added that she had modestly commanded every person to keep within doors and away from the windows, on pain of death, but that one person could not forbear taking a glance, and lost his life for his curiosity. In commemoration of this occurrence, a procession occasionally takes place at the show fair, in which a female of easy purchase rides in a dress of linen closely fitted to her limbs and colored like them. The curious person who stole the glance is called Peeping Tom, and a wooden image of him is to be seen on a house in the city. The story has little foundation. It is first mentioned by Matthew of Westminster, in 1307, that is, 250 years after the time of Leofric and Godiva. Population, 24,242; 49 miles N.W.Oxford. COVERED WAY (chemin couvert); a space of ground on the edge of the ditch, ranging round the works of a fortification. Its glacis descends, by an easy slope, towards the field. It affords a safe communication round all the works, facilitates sallies and retreats, and the reception of auxiliaries, compels the enemy to begin his operations at a distance, checks his approach and the erection of breach batteries, and its parapet protects the fortifications in its rear.

COVERTURE. (See Husband and Wife.)

CowES; a seaport on the north coast of the Isle of Wight, situated on the river Meden, which divides it into East and West Cowes; 12 miles W. S. W. Portsmouth. West Cowes fort is situated in lon. 1° 19′ W., lat. 50° 46′ N. The harbor is as safe as any in the British channel, and by far the most convenient for vessels bound to Holland and the east countries, and is much frequented by ships to repair damages sustained at sea, and to water, until the weather permits them to proceed on their respective voyages. This place is much resorted to in summer, as a bathing place. East Cowes is a hamlet opposite to West Cowes.

COWLEY, Abraham, a distinguished English poet, was born at London in 1618. His father, a grocer, died before his birth, but his mother obtained him admission into Westminster school, as king's scholar. He complained of his own defective memory, in the acquirement of the rules of grammar, but nevertheless became a correct classical scholar, and so early imbibed a taste for poetry, that, in his 16th or 17th year, while yet at school, he published a collection of verses, which he entitled Poetical Blossoms. These juvenile productions, which are more moral and sententious than imaginative, attracted considerable attention towards the author, who, in 1636, was elected a scholar of Trinity college, Cambridge, where he soon obtained great literary distinction, and published a pastoral comedy, entitled Love's Riddle, and another in Latin, called Naufragium Joculare, which was acted before the university by the members of Trinity college. He continued to reside at Cambridge until 1643, when he was ejected by the puritanical visitors; on which he removed to St. John's college, Oxford, where he published a satirical poem, entitled the Puritan and the Papist. engaged actively in the royal cause, and was honored with the friendship of lord Falkland. When the queen was obliged to quit England, Cowley accompanied her. He was absent from his native country nearly 10 years, during which time he undertook various journeys for the royal family; and it was principally through him that the correspondence was maintained between the king and queen. In 1647 appeared his collection of amatory poems, entitled the Mistress. This was followed, in 1650, by a comedy, called the Guardian, afterwards altered into the Cutter of Coleman Street. In 1656, being no longer employed abroad, he returned to England, where, it is presumed, he still

He

remained a medium of confidential communication between the king and the royal party. Soon after his arrival, he published an edition of his poems, containing most of the works which appear in the final collection. He was, about this time, committed to custody by the ruling powers, but was released on the celebrated doctor Scarborough becoming bail for him to the amount of £1000. For the purpose, probably, of appearing. in an ostensible character, he assumed the profession of physic, and had sufficient interest to procure a mandamus from Oxford, in 1657. He again visited France, and resumed his functions of agent in the royal cause on the death of Cromwell. On the restoration, he returned with the other royalists. By the interest of the duke of Buckingham and the earl of St. Alban's, he obtained the lease of a farm at Chertsey, held under the queen, by which his income was rendered about £300 per annum. It however appears, that neither the mind nor body of Cowley was fit ted for his new mode of life. A severe cold and fever, caught from wandering among the damp fields, terminated his life July, 1667, in the 49th year of his age. The private character of Cowley entitled him to general respect; and Charles II (no very conclusive testimony, certainly) observed, that he had not left a "better man behind him in England." It appears, on higher authority, however, that the loyalty of Cowley was free from the servility and gross adulation of the courtiers of the day, and that he possessed a free, independent spirit; was modest, sober and sincere; of gentle affections and moderate wishes. As a poet, he probably stands at the head of the metaphysical class, so ably discussed in doctor Johnson's life of him. He is, by turns, easy, gay, splendid, witty, and never trite and vulgar, although often fantastic, strained, and extravagant. The chief merit of Cowley consists in a kind of sport of the imagination in pursuit of a thought through all its variations and obliquities, and in searching throughout the material world for objects of similitude with intellectual ideas, connected by the most fanciful relations. The Anacreontics of Cowley are among his most agreeable pieces, and few have paraphrased the Teian bard more felicitously. His own original ballad, the List of Mistresses, is deemed still more sprightly and pleasant. His love verses, entitled the Mistress, abound with wit, but are utterly destitute of feeling, being at once ingenious and frigid. His Pindar

ic Odes exhibit a most unbridled license of thought, metre and expression, but contain many very striking combinations and images. His Davideis, which is incomplete, although conveying no strong proof of epic talent, contains some pleasing passages. Of his occasional pieces, his Hymn to Light is decidedly the most elevated and poetical. As an essayist in prose, Cowley is natural, easy and equable, abounding with thought, but without any of the affectation or straining which disfigures his poetry. Nor is his comedy, the Cutter of Coleman Street, without humor, although of a temporary nature. As a writer of Latin verse, he is highly commended by doctor Johnson. His principal performance in that language, consists of six books on plants, which show remarkable facility in the accommodation of verse to an untoward subject. His imitations of the satires and moral epistles of Horace are also much admired by Warton. Whatever place Cowley may retain in general estimation as a poet, he must always stand high as a wit: few authors afford so many new thoughts, and those so entirely his own.

COWPER, William, a distinguished modern English poet, was born at Berkhamstead, Herts, Nov. 26, 1731. His father, the rector of the parish, was the reverend John Cowper, D. D., son of Spencer Cowper, one of the justices of the common pleas, a younger brother of the lord chancellor Cowper. He received his early education at a school in his native county, whence he was removed to that of Westminster. Here he acquired a competent portion of classical knowledge; but, from the delicacy of his temperament, and the timid shyness of his disposition, he seems to have endured a species of martyrdom from the rudeness and tyranny of his more robust companions, and to have received, indelibly, the impressions that subsequently produced his Tirocinium, in which poem his dislike to the system of public education in England is very strongly stated. On leaving Westminster, he was articled, for three years, to an eminent attorney, during which time he appears to have paid very little attention to his profession; nor did he alter on this point after his entry at the Temple, in order to qualify himself for the honorable and lucrative place of clerk to the house of lords, which post his family interest had secured for him. While he resided in the Temple, he appears to have been rather gay and social in his intercourse, numbering among his companions Lloyd, Churchill, Thorn

ton and Colman, all of whom had been his companions at Westminster school, and the two latter of whom he assisted with some papers in the Connoisseur. His natural disposition, however, remained timid and diffident, and his spirits so constitutionally infirm, that, when the time arrived for his assuming the post to which he had been destined, he was thrown into such unaccountable terror at the idea of making his appearance before the assembled peerage, that he was not only obliged to resign the appointment, but was precipitated, by his agitation of spirits, into a state of great mental disorder. At this period, he was led into a deep consideration of his religious state; and, having imbibed the doctrine of election and reprobation in its most appalling rigor, he was led to a very dismal state of apprehension. We are told, "that the terror of eternal judgment overpowered and actually disordered his faculties; and he remained seven months in a continual expectation of being instantly plunged into eternal misery." In this shocking condition, confinement became necessary, and he was placed in a receptacle for lunatics, kept by the amiable and well-known doctor Cotton of St. Alban's. At length, his mind recovered a degree of serenity, and he retired to Huntingdon, where he formed an acquaintance with the family of the reverend Mr. Unwin, which ripened into the strictest intimacy. In 1773, he was again assailed by religious despondency, and endured a partial alienation of mind for some years, during which affliction he was highly indebted to the affectionate care of Mrs. Unwin. In 1778, he again recovered; in 1780, he was persuaded to translate some of the spiritual songs of the celebrated madame Guion. In the same and the following year, he was also induced to prepare a volume of poems for the press, which was printed in 1782. This volume did not attract any great degree of public attention. The principal topics are, Error, Truth, Expostulation, Hope, Charity, Retirement and Conversation; all of which are treated with originality, but, at the same time, with a portion of religious austerity, which, without some very striking recommendation, was not, at that time, of a nature to acquire popularity. They are in rhymed heroics; the style being rather strong than poetical, although never flat or insipid. A short time before the publication of this volume, Mr. Cowper became acquainted with lady Austen, widow of sir Robert Austen, who subsequently resided, for some time, at the parsonage-house at

Olney. To the influence of this lady, the world is indebted for the exquisitely humorous ballad of John Gilpin, and the author's master-piece, the Task. The latter admirable poem chiefly occupied his 2d volume, which was published in 1785, and rapidly secured universal admiration. The Task unites minute accuracy with great elegance and picturesque beauty; and, after Thomson, Cowper is probably the poet who has added most to the stock of natural imagery. The moral reflections in this poem are also exceedingly impressive, and its delineation of character abounds in genuine nature. His religious system too, although discoverable, is less gloomily exhibited in this than in his other productions. This volume also contained his Tirocinium-a piece strongly written, and abounding with striking observations, whatever may be thought of its decision against public education. About the year 1784, he began his version of Homer, which, after many impediments, appeared in July, 1791. This work possesses much exactness, as to sense, and is certainly a more accurate representation of Homer than the version of Pope; but English blank verse cannot sufficiently sustain the less poetical parts of Homer, and the general effect is bald and prosaic. Disappointed at the reception of this laborious work, he meditated a revision of it, as also the superintendence of an edition of Milton, and a new didactic poem, to be entitled the Four Ages; but, although he occasionally wrote a few verses, and revised his Odyssey, amidst his glimmerings of reason, those and all other undertakings finally gave way to a relapse of his malady. His disorder extended, with little intermission, to the close of life; which, melancholy to relate, ended in a state of absolute despair. In 1794, a pension of £300 per annum was granted him by the crown. In the beginning of 1800, this gifted, but afflicted man of genius, exhibited symptoms of dropsy, which carried him off on the 25th of April following. Since his death, Cowper has, by the care and industry of his friend and biographer, Hayley, become known to the world, as one of the most easy and elegant letterwriters on record.

Cow-Pock. (See Vaccination.)

COWRY-SHELLS; shells used for coin; a kind of small muscles, belonging to the Indian seas, &c.; the cypræa moneta of Linnæus. They have an oval, smooth shell. The largest are an inch and a half in size, and indented on both sides of the opening. They are collected twice a

year in the bay of Bengal, on the Malabar coast, and, in still greater quantity, in the neighborhood of the Maldive islands. They are used throughout the East Indies, especially in Bengal and in the African trade, instead of small coins. The demand is so great, that, notwithstanding the insignificant price (in 1780, a pound of them might be bought for three cents), about $150,000 worth are sent every year to Bengal.

COXE, William, a historian and traveller, born in London, 1747, was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and successively accompanied several young men of the first English families, on their travels in Europe, in the capacity of tutor. Among these were the earl of Pembroke, the late Mr. Whitbread (the famous parliamentary orator), and the marquis of Cornwallis. He published an account of his travels through Switzerland (1779), and through Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark (1784-92), which are highly esteemed, and have been translated into almost all the languages of Europe. As a historian, he brought himself into notice by his Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, in 1798, which were followed by those of Horatio Lord Walpole, in 1802. He then published his History of the House of Austria (1807), which has been translated into German; next, his Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon, from 1700 to 1788 (1813, 3 vols., 4to.). Marlborough's Life and Original Papers (1818 et seq., 3 vols. 4to.) is a valuable work. Mr. Coxe died in 1828.

COXIE, or COXCIN, Michael, a painter and engraver, born at Mechlin, 1497, a pupil of Bernard van Orley, travelled to Rome, where he remained several years, attracted by the works of Raphael, with whom he was probably personally acquainted. Here he executed several paintings in fresco, and many other pieces. He also painted the history of Cupid and Psyche, in the style of Raphael, which was engraved on 32 copperplates. In the imperial gallery of Vienna, we find a Madonna with the infant Jesus, by him. His works are rare, even in the Netherlands. He died in 1592.

COYPELS, THE; 1. Noel, the father, born, it is uncertain whether at Paris or in Normandy, in 1628 or in 1629, died in 1707, at Paris. After he had embellished, by the royal command, the old Louvre with his paintings (from the cartoons of Lebrun), and had, in like manner, adorned the Tuileries, he was appointed a director of the French academy in Rome.

His four pictures for the council hall at Versailles-Solon, Trajan, Severus and Ptolemy Philadelphus-excited the admiration of connoisseurs. His chief works are, the Martyrdom of St. James (in the church of Notre Dame), Cain murdering his Brother (in the academy), the Trinity and the Conception of the Holy Virgin (in the Hôtel des Invalides). Coypel had a rich imagination, drew correctly, understood expression, and was an agreeable colorist.-2. His son, Anthony, born at Paris, in 1661, where he died in 1721, possessed spirit and invention. At the age of 14, he studied the works of the Venetian colorists, and, though his studies were interrupted by his speedy return to France, the works that he executed obtained the greatest applause, which rendered him probably more careless than he would otherwise have been. The richness of his imagination and the greatness of his composition caused his imperfect drawing to be overlooked, and his dazzling coloring excused his want of harmony. His fame laid the foundation for the manner of the French school.-3. Much more pure and correct, but comparatively neglected by the public of his time, was his younger brother, Noel Nicholas Coypel, usually called Coypel the uncle, born at Paris, in 1692, where he died in 1735. Far from desiring to dazzle by a false glitter, he aimed only at truth and nature. Without general popularity, he was satisfied with the praise of a small circle of connoisseurs of good taste. He finally received a place in the academy.-4. Charles Anthony, the son of Anthony, born at Paris, in 1694, where he died in 1752, followed the example of his father, and accommodated himself to the taste of his time with great success. The applause which he received did him much injury. He was entirely a mannerist. His coloring was dazzling, but inharmonious. His father was the author of a poetical epistle on painting, addressed to him, written with much elegance.

COYSEVOX, Antoine, a sculptor, born at Lyons, in 1640, went to Alsace, in his 27th year, to adorn the beautiful palace of the cardinal Fürstenberg at Saverne. On his return to France, he became a member of the academy of the arts of painting and sculpture, and made several busts of Louis XIV, and other works for the royal palaces. His figures are full of grace, natural and noble. He was called the Vandyke of sculpture, on account of the beauty and animation of his portraits. The statue of cardinal Mazarin, in the museum at Paris, is a masterpiece of art.

Besides this, his most distinguished works are the statue of Louis XIV, on horseback, for the estates of Bretagne; the sepulchre of Colbert; the statues representing the Dordogne, Garonne and Marne; the group of Castor and Pollux; the sitting Venus; the Nymph of the Shell; the Hamadryad; the sportive Faun with the Flute; Pegasus and Mercury. Coysevox died at Paris, in 1720, in the 80th year of his age.

CRAB (cancer, Lin.). This name, which appears to be derived from the Greek Kapaßos, through the Latin carabus, used by Pliny to designate certain crustaceous species, is now applied to a considerable group of invertebral animals, whose bodies are covered by an external skeleton, or calcareous crust, having 10 articulated limbs, adapted for swimming or walking, and breathing by branchia, or gills. The head and corselet are united, the latter being broader than it is long. The tail is short in proportion, and concealed by being turned forward beneath the body. This genus is distinguished from all others of the same family by the semicircular shape of the corselet, the pointed or hooked extremities of the last joint of the limbs, the narrowness of the superior shell from before backwards, the posterior direction of the hinder tarsi, and the absence of spines or ridges from the forceps, or biting claws. They belong to the fourth section of ten-legged, short-tailed crustacea (decapoda brachyura) of the latest systems, and are of numerous species, exceedingly various in size, color, and modes of living. A slight survey of the structure of these animals might lead to the opinion that their senses were limited or imperfect; but proper observation shows the contrary to be true. The sense of sight, in most of the species, is peculiarly acute, and enables them to distinguish the approach of objects from a very considerable distance. Their power of smelling is also great, though we have not yet discovered the organ by which this sense operates. It has been inferred that the antennæ serve this purpose. Until more positive knowledge is acquired on the subject, no evil can arise from this opinion as to the seat of the sense of smell. The entrance to the organ of hearing is at the base of the peduncle sustaining the antennæ, and consists of a small, hard, triangular prominence, covered by a membrane, within which is a cavity containing the expanded auditory nerve. Of all the senses, that of touch, except so far as it may be possessed by the antenna, appears to be the least perfect, since the whole

body and limbs are incrusted with a hard, compact shell. Of the sense of taste, we can say nothing, but that, as the animals possess a remarkably complex and elaborate apparatus for mastication, there is no reason for believing them devoid of this sense. The mouth is furnished with at least eight pieces or pairs of jaws, which pass the food through an extremely short gullet into a membranous stomach of considerable size. This stomach is rendered curious by having within certain cartilaginous appendages, to which strong grinding teeth are attached. These, in crabs, are five in number, and placed at the pyloric extremity, or outlet of the stomach; so that the aliment, after being subjected to the action of the jaws, is again more perfectly chewed by the stomachteeth, before entering the digestive tube, where it is exposed to the action of the biliary fluid of the liver. The latter organ is of great size in these creatures, and is all that soft, rich, yellow substance, found immediately beneath the superior shell, usually called the fat of the crab, and justly esteemed a delicious morsel. A little posterior to the stomach (commonly called sandbag), the heart is situated-a somewhat globular, whitish body, which propels a colorless lymph to the gills (called dead man's flesh or fingers) and rest of the body, whence it is brought back to the heart by a hollow vein (vena cava), of considerable size. The process of sloughing, moulting, or throwing off the entire calcareous covering, which constitutes their only skeleton, is common to all the crustacea, and is very worthy of attention. As it is obvious that the hard shell, when once perfected, cannot change with the growth of the animal, it becomes necessary that it should be shed entirely; and this shedding takes place at regular periods, at which the increase of size occurs. No one can behold the huge claws or forceps of various species, and the smallness of the joints between them and the body, without feeling some surprise that the creature should be able to extricate them from the old shell, though this is readily accomplished. The aquatic crabs, when the season of shedding arrives, generally seek the sandy shores of the creeks and rivers, and, having selected a situation, they remain at rest, and the change begins. The body of the crab seems to swell, the large upper shell is gradually detached at the edge, or where it joins the thorax or corselet, and the membrane gradually gives way, and rises up from behind, somewhat like the lid of a chest.