COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON. 



COROAY D'ARMANS, CHARLOTTE. 



of UK Edinburgh Review against Oxford,' which wu followed by 

 another 'Reply' in the nine year, and by a third in 1811. These 

 replies were greatly esteemed by the university, and regarded u 

 triumphant defence. In 1814 Copleeton wu elected Provost of Oriel 

 College, and soon afterward* the degree of D.D. wu conferred upon 

 him by diploma, the intrument setting forth that tl.ii distinction 

 resulted from a grateful MOM of the many public benefit) which he 

 had conferred upon the university. Dr. Copleston ii chiefly remem- 

 bered u a divine by his work on ' Predestination,' which consist*, for 

 the moat part, of three sermons preached at St. Mary's church, Oxford, 

 ' An Enquiry into the Doctrine* of Necessity and Predestination, with 



Note* and an Appendix on the 17th Article of the Church of England,' 

 , London, 1841. Between the yean 1811 and 1822 he contributed 



8vo. i 



many articles to the ' Quarterly Review.' In 1826 Dr. Copleston 

 appointed to the deanery of Chester, and in 1S27 he succeeded Dr. 

 Sumner in the bishopric of Llandaff and deanery of St. Paul's, London. 

 He also held the honorary appointment of professor of ancient hi-tory 

 to the Royal Academy of Arts, and wu a fellow of the Society of 

 Antiquaries. After he became a bihop hi* time wu chiefly occupied 

 in the performance of the duties of hi* diocese. Some of hi* sermons, 

 charges, and speeches in the House of Ix>rd, were published at the 

 time when made. He resided mostly during the latter part of his 

 Ufa at Hard wick House, near Chepitow, where he died October 14, 

 IMI 



(Memoir, of . Copluton, Bithop of Llandaf, vilh Selection from 

 kit Diary tout Oorrtlpondenct, d-c., by William James Copleston, 

 London, 1851, 8vo.) 



COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, wu born at Boston, in the United 

 Mates, July 8, 1737. His father, who wu of Euglish extraction, 

 resided in Ireland until his removal to America, winch took place so 

 immediately before his (on was born that Ireland has claimed him as 

 a native. He was educated in America; and without the aid of 

 instructors, simply by studying from nature in the groups around him 

 and the neighbouring woods, he taught himself to paint. In 1760 he 

 pent a picture of a ' Boy and Tame Squirrel ' to the exhibition of the 

 Koyal Academy, which wu universally admired. By the year 1767 

 he wu in the receipt of a considerable income as a portrait-painter, 

 and wu well known both by his works and by name to his brother 

 painters on this side of the Atlantic. In 1774 he indulged a long-felt 

 wish to visit Italy, which he reached by way of London. In the fol- 

 lowing rear be returned to London, and established himself in George- 

 street, Hanover-square. In 1777 he wu elected an associate of the 

 Royal Academy, and in 1783 he became a member. He died in 1815. 

 Hi* son, the present Lord I.yudhurst, possesses some of his father's 

 best painting*. 



The best known of Copley's works is the ' Death of Lord Chatham,' 

 now in the National Collection. It wu engraved by B.irtolozzi ou a 

 plate of an unusual size, and the engraving wu extensively sold. The 

 painter sent an impression to General Washington, and another to 

 John Adams. Copley painted many historical subjects, some sacred, 

 and not a few illustrating the history of England, particularly the 

 period of the revolution. Perhaps the most spirited design from his 

 pencil is the death of Major Pierson, a young officer who died in the 

 defence of 8t Helirr's in Jersey against the French, at the moment 

 when his troops gained a victory over an enemy of superior numbers. 

 There is a drynees and stiffness of manner in Copley's pointings 

 generally which ls lets observable hi this picture. It is among those 

 in the possession of Lord Lyndhurst. 



COR AM, THOMAS, wu born about 1668, wu brought up in the 

 mercantile navy, and became early in life the captain of a merchant 

 ship trading to the Antilles. While in London hi* business often led 

 him from the east-end to the city, and hi* feelings were harrowed 

 by witnessing " young children exposed, sometimes alive, sometimes 

 dee/I, and sometimes dying." His compassion wu awakened; and, 

 finally, hie enthusiasm ronsed, he determined to make an effort to rescue 

 the poor victims from destruction. He began cautiously by miking 

 die subject s frequent topic of conversation. He won adherent*. 

 He devoted hi* labours and hi* fortune to the object in view. He 

 ultimately obtained a wider and more substantial rapport. At 

 length, after seventeen year* of untiring perseverance, on Nov. 20, 

 17S, he presented to a meeting of noblemen and gentlemen at 

 SoOMtest House, charter for a Hospital for ths Maintenance and 

 IMnsaHon of exposed and deserted Children.' The institution wu to 

 be ssjppoHed by subscription. On October 27, 1740, twenty children 

 were flret admitted at the hospital in Hatton Garden. The institution 

 appealed to the benevolent feelings of the public, and in 1T.M) p.irlia 

 BMtt voted 10.0001 to enable the hospital (which had by this time 

 been removed to its present rite, sad is known u tho Foundling 

 Hospital) to receive children indiscriminately. Thi. system com- 

 eased in June, and by the end of the seme year 1788 children hsd been 

 admitted, end in the fallowing year 8727. The effect hod not been 

 A most material check having been removed, female im 

 i became far more common ; and even the destruction of infant 

 i vastly increased, for the children were transmitted in bukeU 

 from distant parts of the country, and of 14,934 children admitted 

 under this system, only 4400 lived to be apprenticed. The evils 

 so enormous that perliamrat again interposed, declared its 

 oval of the system, and discontinued the grant of money. 



disapproval 



The children are now admitted only under certain restrictions, and 

 the charity i* much more effectively distributed. 



But the more serious results of the wide extension of the charity 

 were not seen by Captain Coram. While he lived he employed him- 

 self actively in the concern* of the hospital, but not in them alone ; 

 many other useful and patriotic object', chiefly in regard to the 

 colonies with which he had been formerly connected, received his 

 attention. His benevolence however had exhausted his means. Hi< 

 "rieuds therefore arranged to raise a subscription to provide him with 

 an annuity, but before carrying the scheme into execution, and in 

 order not to off-nd the good old man, Dr. Brocklesby made the plan 

 known to him. His answer was, " I have not wuted the little wealth 

 of which I wu formerly possessed in self-indulgence or vain expenses, 

 and am not ashamed to confess that in my old age I am poor." In 

 1749 an annuity of about 170/. a year was secured for him, but he did 

 not enjoy it long. He died March 29, I'.'.l, and wai buried in the 

 chapel of the hospital under the communion-table, the funeral being 

 attended by the governors, the children, and his numerous friends 

 and admirers. 



CORBET, RICHARD, wu the son of a wealthy gardener at Ewell 

 in Surrey, whose profesnional skill and personal amiability are com- 

 memorated in verse* by Ben Jonson. He wu born in 1582, and 

 received his education at Westminster School and at Christcburch, 

 Oxford, of which ho became dnan. After taking orders, ho attained 

 high popularity in the pulpit, being, In Anthony Wood's phrase, "a 

 quaint preacher." Hia talents, his social qualities, and his firm 

 adherence to the High Church party, gained for him, through the 

 patronage of Buckingham, the place of chaplain to James I. ; aud he 

 wu afterwards elevated in succession to the bishopric of Oxford and 

 to that of Norwich, each of which he held about three years. He 

 died in possession of the latter sea, iu 1635. Although strongly 

 adverse to the Puritans, and employed by Laud in several of hia 

 proceedings against them, he did much to mitigate the harsh com- 

 mands of his superior, both by forbearance in the execution of them, 

 and by the gentleness which be showed when compelled to act. His 

 proved ability, his tolerance and desire for moderate procedure in 

 ecclesiastical affairs, and the cheerful kindliness of his disposition, 

 made Bishop Corbet beloved, and oven respected, iu spite of his exu- 

 berant eccentricities. These indeed were such as even the coarseness 

 and freedom of manners prevalent in that age could hardly make 

 reconcileablc with the clerical character. Although we were to dis- 

 believe some of those anecdotes of unbecoming joviality collected l.y 

 Aubrey, there would remain abundant evidence of extreme light- 

 mindedness. HU only published writings arj his poems. These were 

 first collected in 1647, 12mo, under the title of ' Poetica Stromata; ' 

 they were reprinted in 1648 and 1672 ; and they were edited in 1807, 

 12mo, with a life of the author, by Octavius Gilchrist They are, 

 almost without exception, of a cast more or less ludicrous ; and several 

 of them are satire* on the Puritans. They possess very much merit, 

 in their class. The ' Journey to France,' and ' Farewell to the 

 Fairies,' have been inserted in several collections of English poetry ; 

 but there are others in the series which, for their humorous merri- 

 ment and pointed terseness, would not have been unworthy of the 

 same distinction. 



CORiiAV b'AKMANS, MAUIE ANXE CHARLOTTE, commonly 

 called CHARLOTTE COUDAY, who numbered among her ancestors 

 the great tragedian Corneille, and was of noble family, wu born at 

 St. Satui-uin, near Sees, in Normandy, in 1768. The republican prin- 

 ciples of the early revolutionists struck deep root in her enthusiastic 

 wind, and her zeal for their establishment wu heightened after the 

 rise of the Jacobins and the overthrow and proscription of the 

 Girondists, May 31, 1793, by the presence and conversation of those 

 chiefi of the lattr party who fled into Normandy in hope to rouse 

 the people in their favour. Resolved to advance the cause which she 

 had at heart by some extraordinary action, Charlotte Corday travelled 

 to Paris, where having gained admission to the galleries of the Con- 

 vention, she wu still more incensed by the threats and invectives 

 which she heard showered upon her own friends. Her project took 

 the form of a determination to assassinate one of the principals of the 

 dominant faction. Whether to deter them by terror, as an act of 

 revenge, or u an example of what she regarded public justice, she 

 chose Marat, one of the most violent and bloody of the Jacobins, to 

 be her victim. After two unsuccessful attempts, she obtained admis- 

 sion into the chamber in which he wu confined by illness, July 15, 

 under pretence of communicating important, news from Caen ; and 

 being confirmed in her purpose by his declaration that in a faw days 

 the Girondist* who had fled thither should be guillotined iu Pari, she 

 suddenly (tabbed him to the heart. He gave one cry and expired. 

 Being immediately arrested nnd carried before the Tribunal Ituvolu- 

 tionnaire, she avowed and justified the act. " I have killed one man," 

 he exclaimed, raising her voice to the utmost, " to save a hundred 

 thousand; a villain, to rescue innocents; a wild beast, to give peace to 

 my country. I wu a republican before the revolution, aud I have 

 never been wanting in energy." But she indignantly denied that she 

 had any accomplices, declaring that it was her own act, prompted only 

 by a desire to render peace to her country. Notwithstanding her 

 confession, the court, with an affectation of impartiality which iu this 

 cue could be ventured on, assigned her a defender, and went through 



