COPIAPO COPPER. 



445 



jiccessit Gassendi Vita Tyclio-Brahei, Hague, 1652, 

 4to). See, also, Adam's Vita Philosophorum G'er- 

 manorum, page 26. Doctor Westphal has given 

 a good narrative of the life of ISicholas Coper- 

 nicus (Constance, 1822). Count Sierakowski has 

 erected a monument to his memory, in St Anne's 

 church at Cracow, with this inscription taken from 

 the Bible : Sta, sol, ne moveare. " He commanded 

 the sun to stand still." Thorwaldsen, the greatest 

 sculptor of the age, has executed a colossal statue of 

 Copernicus, for the city of Cracow, which is one of 

 the most noble specimens of modern art. 



COPIAPO ; a jurisdiction in Chile, rich in gold 

 mines, situated on the north part of Chile. There 

 are likewise mines of iron, copper, sulphur, lead, 

 mercury, silver, and lapis lazuli. Arsenic also is 

 found. Saltpetre is common. 



COPIAPO ; a seaport of Chile, which gives its 

 name to the jurisdiction ; 140 miles N. N. W . Rioja ; 

 ion. 71" 18' W. ; lat. 27 ICX S. ; population, 1700. 

 It is situated on a river of the same name, twelve 

 leagues from the sea. The houses are irregularly built. 



COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, a self-taught and 

 distinguished painter, was born in 1738, in Boston, 

 Massachusetts, and died in London, in 1815. Cop- 

 ley began to paint at a very early age ; and pieces, 

 executed by him in Boston, before (to use his own 

 words) he had seen any tolerable picture, and cer- 

 tainly before he could have received any instruction, 

 in the art of painting, from the lips of a master, 

 show his natural talent, and, in fact, were unsurpass- 

 ed by his later productions. He did not visit Italy 

 till 1774. In 1776, he came to Britain, where he 

 met his wife and children, whom he had left in Bos- 

 ton. As the struggle between Britain and America 

 had begun in 1775, there was neither a good op- 

 portunity for Mr Copley to return to his native 

 land, which he always seems to have had in view, 

 nor was there much hope of success for an ar- 

 tist in the convulsed state of the country. He there- 

 fore devoted himself to portrait-painting in London, 

 and was chosen a member of the royal academy. 

 His first picture, which may be called historical, was 

 The Youth rescued from a Shark; but the picture 

 styled Death of Lord Chatham, which represents 

 the great orator fainting in the house of lords, after 

 the memorable speech in favour of America, and con- 

 tains, at the same time, the portraits of all the lead- 

 ing men of that house, at once established his fame. 

 In 1790, Copley was sent, by the city of London, to 

 Hanover, to take the portraits of the four Hanove- 

 rian officers, commanders of regiments associated 

 with the British troops under general Elliot, (after- 

 wards lord Heathfield), at the defence of Gibraltar, 

 in order to introduce them in the large picture, which 

 he was about making for the city, of the siege and 

 relief of Gibraltar, which was afterwards placed in 

 the council-cliamber of Guildhall. Mr Copley pur- 

 sued his profession with unabated ardour, until his 

 sudden death, in 1815. Besides the pictures already 

 mentioned, and a number of portraits, including 

 those of several members of the royal family, the 

 most distinguished of his productions are Major 

 Pierson's Death on the Island of Jersey ; Charles I. , 

 in the House of Commons, demanding of the Speak- 

 er Lenthall the five impeached Members, containing 

 the portraits of the most distinguished members of 

 that house; the Surrender of Admiral de Winter to 

 Lord Duncan, on board the Venerable of Camper- 

 down ; Samuel and Eli, &c. ; of all of which en- 

 gravings exist, though of some (for instance, of the 

 last mentioned piece), they are extremely rare. 



Mr Copley's eldest, and only surviving son, now 

 lord Lyndhurst, and formerly high chancellor of 

 England, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, May 



21, 1772; went, with his mother and sisters, in 

 1775, to England ; was sent at the age of seven 

 years, to a boarding-school at Chatham, near Lon- 

 don, and after the lapse of a few years he was placed 

 under the reverend doctor Home of Chiswick, with 

 whom he remained until he entered Trinity College, 

 Cambridge. He distinguished himself here by assi- 

 duous application, won many prizes, and received 

 the high degree of second wrangler. He afterwards 

 obtained a lay fellowship, and, in 1795, visited the 

 United States. In 1798, he returned to England, 

 commenced the study of the law at Lincoln's Inn, 

 and was, for two years, with Mr Tidd, a distinguished 

 special pleader. In 1816, Mr Copley was elected 

 member of Parliament for Yarmouth. In 1819, he 

 took the degree of serjeant-at-law, and was M.P. for 

 Ashburton, having been made chief-justice of Ches- 

 ter in 1818. In 1819, he first became known to the 

 public at large by his able assistance of Sir Charles 

 Wetherel, in his defence of the eldest Watson, and 

 afterwards by an equally able defence of Thistle- 

 wood, both accused of high treason. Wetherel and 

 Copley were then the idols of the populace, and 

 their names were placarded on every corner. After 

 these displays of talent, the government felt the im- 

 portance of securing his services. He was, there- 

 fore, sent to attend the special commission at Derby, 

 for the trial of Brandreth and his companions. In 

 1819, he was made solicitor-general, in time to in- 

 volve him officially in the proceedings against the 

 queen, Caroline (q. v.), in which he assisted the 

 attorney-general. In 1824, he was made attorney- 

 general. He became the friend of Canning, and so 

 remained until the death of this minister. In 1826, 

 Mr Copley was chosen M.P. for the university of 

 Cambridge, after an arduous struggle. In a few 

 months, on the death of lord Gifford, he was made 

 master of the rolls. April 30, 1827, he was made 

 lord high chancellor of England, after Canning had 

 been appointed prime minister, April 12, 1827, and 

 lord Eldon had resigned, and after he had declar- 

 ed himself against Catholic emancipation. April 

 25, 1827, he was created lord Lyndhurst. When 

 Wellington's administration was formed, lord Lynd- 

 hurst remained in office, but retired on the accession 

 of the Whigs. 



COPPER is of a red colour, with a tinge of yellow, 

 having considerable lustre, but liable to tarnish and 

 rust from exposure to the air. It is moderately hard, 

 and has considerable ductility and malleability. Its 

 specific gravity is 8'78. It has a sensible odour, 

 especially when heated or rubbed, a styptic, un- 

 pleasant taste, and is peculiarly poisonous to animals. 

 In treating of this metal we shall defer our account 

 of its ores, which are numerous, until we have con- 

 cluded its chemical history. 



Copper melts at a full white heat, and, by slow 

 cooling, may be crystallized. It suffers oxidation at 

 a lower temperature from the action of the air, thin 

 scales of oxide forming on its surface when it is heat- 

 ed to redness. At a higher heat, it bums with a 

 green flame. Exposure to air and humidity, at the 

 natural temperatures, converts it into a green rust, 

 which is the oxide combined with a portion of carbo- 

 nic acid. 



There are two oxides of copper. The protoxide 

 is of a red colour, and occurs native, in the form of 

 octoedral crystals, in the mines of Cornwall. It is 

 also prepared artificially, by mixing sixty four parts 

 of metallic copper, in a state of fine division, with 

 eighty parts of the peroxide, and heating the mixture 

 to redness in a close vessel ; or by boiling a solution 

 of the acetate of copper witli sugar, when the per- 

 oxide is gradually deoxidized, and subsides as a red 

 powder. It consists of one atom, or proportional, of 



