CONDE CONGLETON. 



409 



literary studies of our colleges cover all classes of 

 society, we almost always find, to speak plainly, 

 a profound ignorance of those beautiful phenomena, 

 those grand laws of nature, which are our best 

 safeguard from prejudice." 



CONDE, DON JOSE ANTONIO, a Spanish historian, 

 was born at Peraleja, in the provence of Cuenca, 

 and educated at Alcala. He was intended for the 

 legal profession ; but loving literature for its own 

 sake, and having from an early age applied himself 

 to the oriental languages, he obtained an appoint- 

 ment in the royal library at Madrid, and was thus 

 fixed in the very situation where he could be most 

 usefully and most happily employed. His first 

 publication consists of translations from Anacreon 

 and Theocritus a juvenile production which was 

 well received. His second was a version of that 

 part of Edrisi the Nubian's Geography which re- 

 lates to Spain : the Arabic text was published with 

 it, and he added notes, which, according to M. Sil- 

 vestre de Sacy, are of little value. He was, how- 

 ever, a diligent student, who neither mistook the 

 nature of his own talents, nor overrated them, but 

 was contented to be one of the pioneers of litera- 

 ture. His merits were properly appreciated, and 

 the academy of history appointed him their anti- 

 quary and librarian ; but the even tenor of his life 

 was interrupted by Bonaparte's usurpation of Spain. 

 A few men of letters (to the honour of letters and 

 of the Spanish character they were but few) took 

 what they supposed to be the strongest side, and 

 acknowledged the intrusive government. Conde 

 was one of that unworthy number, and he accepted, 

 under the intruder Joseph, the appointment of 

 archivista, or keeper of the records for the home 

 department. Consequently he found it necessary 

 to fly when the French were driven from Madrid, 

 and the battle of Vittoria made him an exile. He 

 took shelter in France, and remained there in re- 

 tirement till the year 1817, when he was permitted 

 to return into his own country. The indulgence 

 of the government was not extended further, and 

 therefore he was not restored to his office in the 

 royal library; but the academy of history replaced 

 him on their list of members, and reappointed him 

 their antiquary. A proper distinction was made 

 here ; the government could bestow nothing more 

 than forgiveness upon one who had given his as- 

 sent and consent to a foreign usurpation, but it 

 did not interfere with the proceedings of the 

 academy, which, as a literary body, took no cog- 

 nizance of political offences. In Conde's case the 

 offence proceeded wholly from moral weakness ; he 

 was one of those men whose minds are too much 

 occupied by their favourite pursuits to have any 

 room for ambition, or for avarice. In 1820 he 

 published the first volume of his Moorish History, 

 the great object to which he had devoted his life ; 

 he died before the second was prepared for the 

 press ; it its rough state, however, he had brought 

 the work down to the conquest of Granada, which 

 terminates the history of the Moorish dominion, 

 but not of the Moors, in Spain. His unpublished 

 papers consisted of a translation of the Canticles, 

 with notes, which are said to display much erudi- 

 tion ; and a collection of Arabic poems, with Span- 

 ish versions, and a dissertation upon the effect 

 which the Arabian has produced upon the Spanish 

 poetry. His library was sold in London ; it was 

 singularly rich in manuscripts, and in the rarest 

 Spanish books. Conde's history of the dominion 

 of the Moors in Spain has been translated into 



French by M. de Maries, Paris, 1825, 3 vols. 

 8vo. 



CONEY, JOHN, an eminent engraver, was born 

 at Ratcliffe Highway, and was apprenticed to the 

 late Mr Byfield the architect, but never followed 

 architecture as a profession. At the age of fifteen, 

 he made his first drawing for sale. It was a view 

 of Westminster abbey, and it found a purchaser in 

 Mr Orme the printseller. In 1815, he published 

 his first work ; a series of eight views of the ex- 

 terior and interior of Warwick castle, drawn and 

 etched by himself. About the year 1816 he was 

 engaged by Mr Joseph Harding to draw and engrave 

 the fine series of exterior and interior views of the 

 cathedrals and abbey churches of England, to illus- 

 trate the new edition of Dugdale's " Monasticon," 

 edited by Sir Henry Ellis. These plates occupied 

 the attention of Mr Coney for fourteen years, and 

 are executed with consummate skill. In 1829, he 

 commenced a series of " Engravings of Ancient 

 Cathedrals, Hotels de Ville, and other public build- 

 ings of celebrity in France, Holland, Germany, and 

 Italy, drawn on the spot, and engraved by J. Coney : 

 with illustrative descriptions by Charles Heath- 

 cote Tatham, Esq." It was originally intended to 

 be in twelve parts, but only eight were published. 

 In 1831, he commenced another similar undertak- 

 ing, half the size of the first work, intituled, " Ar- 

 chitectural Beauties of Continental Europe, in a 

 Series of Views of remarkable edifices, civil and 

 ecclesiastical, in France, the Low Countries, Ger- 

 many and Italy, engraved by J. Coney from his 

 own drawings, taken on the spot, with descrip- 

 tions and historical illustrations by H. E. Lloyd.' 1 

 This handsome work consists of twenty-eight large 

 plates, and fifty-six vignettes. A view of the in- 

 terior of the cathedral of Milan, the same size as 

 the larger work, was published after Mr Coney's 

 death, for the benefit of his widow. Mr Coney 

 was employed by Mr Cockerell, the celebrated 

 architect, to engrave a very large general view of 

 Rome, and another plate as a companion to it, 

 which has not yet been published. He also en- 

 graved numerous plates for the account of the law 

 courts at Westminster, lately erected by Sir John 

 Soane. He died on the 15th August, 1833, aged 

 forty-seven. 



CONGLETON; a market-town in Cheshire, 

 seven miles from Macclesfield, twenty-four from 

 Manchester, and fifty-eight from Birmingham. It 

 is situated upon the south of the river Dane, over 

 which is a handsome bridge, erected in 1782. A 

 charter of incorporation was granted by James I., 

 in 1625, under which the town was governed until 

 September, 1835, when the new municipal act di- 

 rected it to be governed by a mayor, six aldermen 

 and eighteen councillors the corporate body to 

 be styled the " mayor, aldermen and burgesses of 

 the borough of Congleton ;" it likewise divided the 

 town into three wards. In 1637, the celebrated 

 president Bradshaw served the office of mayor of 

 Congleton. The original manufactures of Congle- 

 ton consisted of gloves, and leather laces, called 

 Congleton points; these have long since given place 

 to a very considerable trade in the manufacture of 

 silk, silk throwing, silk spinning, &c. : the first silk 

 mill was established here in 1754, and the trade has 

 greatly increased since then ; the ribbon branch is 

 also one of consequence in the town. The appear- 

 ance of Congleton, although ancient, is clean and 

 respectable, and that of the surrounding country 

 very pleasing. Population in 1811, 9228. 



