454 



CORDOVAN CORINTH. 



success of the patriots. Dismounting;, niul sUuuling 

 in front of his division, gnu-nil Cordova ordered 

 Uiem to advance to the charge, with the emphatic 

 exhortation, " Adelaide, pato de vencedores." Al- 

 though the Spaniards prepared to receive his attack 

 with a show of confidence, they could not withstand 

 the onset. (Jem-nil Cordova received much praise 

 for his conduct, on this occasion, and was promoted 

 on the field to the rank of general of division, at the 

 age of twenty-five years. As general in chief, he 

 remained with the auxiliary Colombian army in Bo- 

 livia. He continued in I'pper Peru until 1827, when 

 he returned to Colombia. In the changes which 

 took place in the government of Colombia, in 1828, 

 general Cordova took the part of Bolivar, and, in 

 September, was made secretary of the department of 

 war, and a member of the council of ministers. In 

 September, 1829, after Bolivar had received almost 

 unlimited power (see Colombia), Cordova set up the 

 standard of revolt in Antioquia/but did not receive 

 much support. He was attacked November 17, by 

 general O'Leary, and slain, with almost all his 

 adherents, 200 in number, after a desperate de- 

 fence. 



CORDOVAN ; a fine leather, which took its 

 name from the city of Cordova, where it was manu- 

 factured in large quantities. Much is now made in 

 the Barbary states. 



COREA ; a kingdom of Asia, bounded N. by 

 Chinese Tartary, E. by the sea of Japan, S. by a 

 narrow sea, which parts it from the Japanese islands, 

 and \V. by the Yellow sea, which parts it from 

 China; about 500 miles from N. to S., and 150 

 from E. to W. ; between lat 34" 16' and 43 N., 

 and Ion. 124 32' and 130 3tt E. It is a peninsula, 

 being everywhere surrounded by the sea, except 

 towards the north. This country consists of eight 

 provinces, in which are found forty grand cities, call- 

 ed kiun ; thirty-three of the first rank, called fou ; 

 fifty-eight tcheous, or cities of the second rank ; and 

 seventy of the third, called hien ; besides a great 

 number of fortresses well garrisoned. The north 

 part of Corea is barren, woody, and mountainous, in- 

 fested with wild beasts, and but thinly inhabited ; 

 but the southern division is rich and fertile, breeds 

 great numbers of large and small cattle, besides 

 fowl, wild and tame, and a great variety of game ; 

 it likewise produces silk, flax, and cotton. The 

 king of Corea pays an annual tribute to China, but 

 in the internal administration is independent. The 

 prevailing religion is that of Fo or Buddha. Popu- 

 lation vaguely estimated at 6 or 8,000,000 ; square 

 miles, about 88,000. Kingki-tao is the capital. 



CORELLI, ARCANGELO, a celebrated performer 

 on the violin, was born at Fusignano, in the terri- 

 tory of Bologna, in the year 1653, and was instructed 

 in church music by Matteo Simonelli, a singer at St 

 Peter s in Rome, and in profane music by Bas- 

 sano of Bologna. In the year 1706, he travelled 

 into Germany, and was in the service of the elector 

 of Bavaria during five years, after which he returned 

 into his own country. He performed on the violin 

 with great judgment and an incredible degree of 

 accuracy. His execution was peculiarly charac- 

 terestic, full of spuit and expression, and his tone 

 was firm and uniform. Cardinal Ottoboni was his 

 patron at Rome. Corelli formed and conducted, ac- 

 cording to the original plan of Crescentini, the cele- 

 brated musical academy which met at the palace of 

 the cardinal every Monday. By his sonatas on the 

 violin, and by his concerts, he may be considered, as 

 it were, the creator of a new species of harmony, 

 especially for his own instrument. He died in 1713, 

 and, besides a considerable fortune, left behind him 

 8 valuable collection of paintings, which became the 



property of cardinal Ottoboni. He was buried in the 

 Pantheon. 



CORFU (anciently Drepaninn. then Scheria, and 

 at last, Corcyru) an islnnd in the .Mediterranean, at 

 the mouth of the Adriatic, near the coast of Al'a- 

 nia ; about forty-five mile* Ion-;, and trom fifteen to 

 twenty wide; Ion. 20" 20 7 K. ; lat. 39 4Qf N. ; po- 

 pulation, 60,000 ; square miles, 7F5. The climate 

 is mild, but variable, the air healthy, the land fertile, 

 and the fruit excellent. Oranges, citrons, the most 

 delicious grapes, honey, wax, and oil, an* exceeding- 

 ly abundant. Some parts are mountainous and 

 barren, and good water is scarce. Salt forms a 

 great part ot its riches. The capital has always 

 borne the name of the island. Towards the end 

 of the 14th century, it came into' the power ot the 

 Venetians. It was afterwards taken by the French, 

 and ceded to them by the treaty of Campo-Fonnio, 

 in 1797. In March, 1799, it was taken from them 

 by the Russians and Turks, and united with Cepha- 

 lonia, /ante, &c., to form a republic, under the de- 

 nomination of the Seven Islands. (See Ionian Is- 

 lands.) Homer, in the Odyssey, describes the 

 beauty of this island of the Phaeacians, celebrating 

 the climate and the gardens of A Icinous. 



CORFU (anciently Corcyra) ; capital of the is- 

 land of the same name ; Ion. 20" 17' E. ; lat. 3b 

 40' N. ; population, 15,000 ; the see of an archbishop. 

 Itisthe seat of government of the Ionian Island^, is 

 fortified, and defended by two fortresses ; anil has a 

 good harbour and considerable trade. In 1818, a 

 university was established here, under the auspices 

 of the British government, by the earl of Guilford, 

 who was appointed chancellor, and nominated 

 Greeks of the tirst abilities to the different chairs. 

 The number of students soon amounted to 150. 



CORIANDER (coriandrum sativum, Linn.) ; an 

 annual plant, native of Italy, and cultivated 

 in other parts of Europe. The seed has, when 

 fresh, a very unpleasant smell, like that of bed- 

 bugs. It is, on the contrary, very agreeable and 

 aromatic when dry. It acts in the same manner as 

 aniseed, &c., and enters into several officinal com- 

 pounds. Its infusion is occasionally employed as a 

 sudorific. It is used, likewise, as a corrective of cer- 

 tain purgatives. 



CORILLA. See Improvisation 



CORINNA ; called the lyric muse ; a poetess of 

 Tanagra, in Boeotia, contemporary with Pindar, 

 whom she is said to have conquered five times at 

 musical contests, and therefore her image, crowned 

 with the chaplet of victory, was placed in the 

 gymnasium of Tanagra. According to Pausanias, 

 who relates this fact, she was so beautiful that her 

 charms may have influenced, in some degree, the 

 opinion of the judges. It is probabl y owing to the ten- 

 derness and softness of her songs, that she received 

 the surname of the fly. Sappho and Erinna were 

 each called the bee. Of the numerous poems which 

 the ancients ascribed to her, only a fe-.v fragments 

 have come down to us. In Creuzer s Meletem. e 

 Disc, antiquit.), vol. 2, p. 10 et seq., \\ elker has col- 

 lected the accounts relating to her, and critically 

 commented on them. Madame de Stael has given 

 the name of Corinna to the heroine of one of the 

 most beautiful novels of our age ; a work which ex- 

 hibits, perhaps, more than any of her former produc- 

 tions, the extraordinary talents of this distinguished 

 woman. 



CORINTH, a celebrated city upon the isthmus of 

 the same name, which unites the Morea with Liva- 

 dia, lat. 37 53' 37" N., Ion. 22 24' 5" E., the inha 

 bitants of which, some years ago, amounted to about 

 2000; but it lias been taken and retaken several 

 times during the late revolution, and its population 



