COLIGNY COLLE. 



311 



miserable state of existence, the patient lingers out I 

 many wretched years. 



COLIGNY, GASPARD DE, admiral of France, born 

 in 1516, at Chatillon-sur-Loin, distinguished himself 

 luider Francis I., in die battle of Cerisoles, and under 

 Henry II., who made him colonel-general of the 

 French infantry, and, in 1552, admiral of France. 

 He was distinguished for valour in battle, for strict 

 discipline, and for his conquests over the Spaniards, 

 in particular for his defence of St Quentin. When 

 St Quentin was taken by storm, the admiral was 

 made prisoner. After the death of Henry II., the 

 intrigues of Catharine de' Medici induced him to 

 place himself at the head of the Calvinists against 

 the Guises. He formed so powerful a party, that 

 the Catholic religion in France seemed to be in dan- 

 ger. Conde was more ambitious, enterprising, ac- 

 tive ; Coligny more considerate, prudent, and more 

 tit to be the leader of a party ; equally unfortunate 

 in war with Conde, but skilled in remedying even 

 what appeared irretrievable losses, and more to be 

 feared after a defeat than his enemies after a victory, 

 he was, besides, endowed with virtues, which he 

 practised as far as party spirit and the violence of 

 the times permitted him. The first battle between 

 the Huguenots and Catholics (1562, at Dreux) was 

 lost by the admiral, but he saved his army. When 

 the duke of Guise was murdered at the siege of Or- 

 leans, he was accused of being the author of the 

 murder, but he cleared himself by an oath : it was 

 unnecessary, the nobleness of his spirit raising him 

 above suspicion. The civil war recommenced with 

 increased fury, in 1567. Coligny and Conde en- 

 countered the constable Montmorency at St Denis. 

 This indecisive action was followed by the battle of 

 Jarnac (in 1569), which was fatal to the Calvinists. 

 Conde fell, and the whole burden of command de- 

 volved on Coligny. He alone sustained his party, 

 and was beaten again at Moncontour, without, how- 

 ever, losing his courage. An advantageous peace 

 seemingly put a stop to this contest (1570). Colig- 

 uy appeared at court, and was, with his adherents, 

 loaded with favours. Charles IX. gave him 

 100,000 francs, as an indemnification for his injuries, 

 together with a seat in the council. From all sides 

 he was warned not to trust to these caresses. As 

 the admiral was leaving the Louvre, August 22, 

 1572, his right hand and left arm were wounded by 

 a shot from a window. One Maurenal had fired 

 at him from a building belonging to the monas- 

 tery of St Germain PAuxerrois, according to the 

 plan of Catharine de' Medici, probably with the 

 knowledge of the duke of Guise. Charles testified 

 the deepest sorrow, caused search to be made for the 

 assassin, and said to Coligny, " My father, you have' 

 the wounds, but I the pain." This he said at the' 

 moment when the massacre of the Protestants was 

 already prepared. The slaughter began on the 

 night of St Bartholomew's, August 24, 1572. (See 

 Ikirtholomew's Day, Saiat.) The duke of Guise has- 

 tened with a numerous suite to the house of the 

 admiral. One Behme, or Besme, at their head, 

 entered with his drawn sword into the chamber of 

 the old man, who, sitting in an easy cliair, said, with 

 a calm mien, to their leader, " Young man, my grey 

 hairs ought to command thy respect ; but do as thou 

 pleasest; thou canst shorten my life but a few 

 days ;" upon which the wretch pierced him with se- 

 veral stabs, and threw the body out of the window 

 into the court-yard. The corpse was given up for 

 three days to the fury of the people, and finally was 

 hung up by the feet on a gibbet, at Montfaucon. 

 Morttmorency, a cousin of Coligny, caused it to be 

 taken down, and had it secretly buried in the chapel 

 oi the castle of C'hantilly. An Italian carried the 



head to Catharine, who ordered it to be embalmed 

 and sent to Rome. 



COLIN, also COLLIN; a town in Bohemia, 

 with 4400 inhabitants, eleven leagues from Prague, 

 famous on account of the battle which Frederic the 

 Great lost there, June 18, 1757, the first which he 

 lost in the seven years' war. Colin is also known 

 for the precious stones found there. 



COLISEUM; a gigantic ruin in Rome. This 

 building, which was 1612 feet in circumference, and 

 contained eighty arcades, was the greatest amphi- 

 theatre which Roman magnificence ever erected. It 

 was built by Vespasian, and is said to have been 

 erected in one year by the compulsory labour of 

 12,000 Jews and Christians. Authors rank it above 

 the pyramids of Egypt, and other wonderful works of 

 the ancient world. It is said to have held about 

 110,000 spectators, of whom above 90,000 were seat- 

 ed. For the greater part, it consists of travertino, 

 and has three rows of columns, one above the other ; 

 the lowest is of the Doric, the second, the Ionic, 

 and the highest, the Corinthian order. Down to the 

 thirteenth century, tliis monument of ancient gran- 

 deur remained almost uninjured; afterwards pope Paul 

 II. took all the stones from it which were used for 

 the construction of the palace of St Mark, and, in 

 later times, some other palaces were erected from its 

 fragments. At present, care is taken not to touch 

 the ruins of the Coliseum, but it is gradually crum- 

 bling away of itself, and in a few centuries, perhaps,, 

 nothing more may be seen of its upper part ; the 

 lower part, however, will last for ever. The enclo- 

 sures in which the wild animals were kept are still 

 standing, and remind us of the times when their build- 

 ers were devoured by the beasts, to gratify the savage 

 taste of the people. Benedict XIV. caused a cross 

 to be erected in the centre of the arena, where every 

 Sunday afternoon, Catholic worship is performed. A 

 hermit resides in these vast ruins. The Coliseum re- 

 ceived its name from the colossal statue of Nero, 

 which was placed in it. There is in Rome a model 

 of the Coliseum, as it was when complete, on a pret- 

 ty large scale. The traveller, after having viewed 

 this immense building by daylight, should return to 

 gaze again by the light of the moon, when its gran- 

 deur is really amazing. Very recently, an enormous 

 structure, called Coliseum, has been erected in Re- 

 gent's park, London, chiefly by a Mr Horner. It is 

 divided into three parts the panorama, or grand 

 view of London, of which many points of view are 

 afforded by the ascent of a winding staircase (for peo- 

 ple who do not want the trouble of walking up, an 

 ascending room is provided) ; the suites of rooms 

 for subscribers, and the conservatory with green- 

 houses and fairy creations. The whole shows great 

 ingenuity. 



COLLATERAL RELATIONS (Collaterales) 

 descendants of brothers or sisters, or the brothers or 

 sisters of the ascending lines. In politics, collater- 

 al lines have often played an important part ; and 

 great jealousies have frequently existed between the 

 collateral lines of a ruling family. 



COLLATION is the comparison of manuscripts, 

 in order to ascertain the true reading of an author. 

 This is often a very important operation, as manu- 

 scripts were frequently made by people who did not 

 understand what they wrote, or wrote very careless- 

 ly. Among the moderns, the Germans have done 

 most in collation ; for instance, Emanuel Bekker, of 

 Berlin, for Plato ; Niebuhr and Bluhme, for various 

 authors in the libraries of Italy ; G. H. Pertz, in re- 

 gard to manuscripts relating to the early history of 

 Germany, in the Italian and German libraries. 



COLLE, CHARLES ; a dramatic poet, born in 

 1709, at Paris. His early connexion with Hagiu- 



