COP 



205 



COP 



gree, rendered necessary by their extreme poverty. 

 '• The marriage service is read by the priest in the an- 

 "' cient Coptic, which is now understood by few even of 

 their 'learned clergy. Divorce is allowed on very fri- 

 volous pretences ; and may be prosecuted by either 

 party, on the mere grounds of a simple dislike. 



In short, the rites and doctrines of the Coptic church 

 are much the same as those of Abyssinia, where they 

 form the established religion of the country, and are 

 Strictly and universally observed. 



The patriarch of Alexandria is chosen by the bishops 

 of the Coptic church. He is first installed in the great 

 church of St Macarius, at Cairo, where he is elected ; 

 and afterwards at that of St Mark, at Alexandria. He 

 is obliged to preach once a year to his clergy ; whilst 

 their employment is to read, on set days, homilies and 

 legendary tales to the laity. The person next in dig- 

 nity to the patriarch of Alexandria, is the titular pa- 

 triarch of Jerusalem, who resides at Cairo ; and visits 

 Jerusalem every Easter, together with the other places 

 in Palestine, which acknowledge his jurisdiction. He 

 has the government of the Coptic church during a va- 

 cancy of the patriarchal see. 



Many ineffectual attempts have been made to unite 

 the Coptic to the Roman church. About the year 1560, 

 the patriarch of Alexandria wrote a letter to the Pope, 

 in which he seemed to acknowledge his authority, sti- 

 ling him father of fathers, pastor of pastors, and master 

 of all churches. The Pope, overjoyed at this apparent 

 submission, sent a nuncio to Alexandria, with a sum of 

 money to the patriarch. After the money was deliver- 

 ed, the nuncio was informed, that the designations 

 which the patriarch had given to the Pope in his let- 

 ter, were merely complimentary titles, which he occa- 

 sionally bestowed on his friends; and that each of 

 them must still remain the head of his own church. 



There have been many disputes about the origin of 

 the word Copts. Scaliger first supposed it to be deri- 

 ved from Coptos, a celebrated town of ancient Egypt : 

 he afterwards supposed it to be derived from the 

 word AiyvTTToq, by omitting the first syllable. The 

 objection to both these etymologies is, that Copts is 

 entirely a modern appellation, not known before the 

 conquest of Egypt by the Mahometans. Others have 

 again supposed, that, as the name is confined entirely 

 to the Jacobite Christians, it is merely an abbreviation 

 of this word by omitting the first syllable, making Co- 

 bite, and hence Copt by an easy mutation. Many other 

 etymologies have been proposed, all equally uncertain 

 and unsatisfactory. («) 



COPYHOLD, in the law of England, is a species of 

 land tenure, which is evidently the offspring of the an- 

 cient tenure in villenage. It is so called because the te- 

 nant holds his lands by copy of court roll of the manor, 

 at trie bill of the lord. 



Villeins might, anciently, be enfranchised either by 

 express or implied manumission, to which law and prac- 

 tice were extremely favourable. In process of time, the 

 villeins, by a series of encroachments on their lords, 

 came to have a more secure and permanent interest in 

 their possessions ; and, at length, the common law gave 

 them a title to prescribe against their lords, so that, 

 when they and their children had continued to enjoy 

 their lands, time out of mind, by a regular course of de- 

 scent, they began to be called tenants by copy of court 

 roll, and their tenure itself a copyhold. These lands, 

 therefore, were now no longer held at the mere will of 

 the lord, but at the will of the lord according to the cus- 



tom of the manor; and so long as he conformed to that 

 custom, the tenant could not be ejected. Tenure in vil- 

 lenage was virtually abolished by the statute of Charles 

 II. but copyholds were reserved. 



In order to constitute a copyhold tenure, it is necessa- 

 ry, 1st, That the lands be parcel of, and situate within, 

 that manor under which they are held ; and, 2d, That 

 they have been devised, or devisable, by copy of court 

 roll immemorially ; for, strictly speaking, no new copy- 

 hold can be granted at this day. See Blackstone's Com- 

 ment, b. ii. ch. 6. (z) 



COPYING Machine. See Polygraph. 



COPYRIGHT. See Literary Property. 



COQUIMBO, or La Serena, the capital of a pro- 

 vince of the same name in Chili, was founded by Val- 

 divia in 1544. It is situated in the valley of Coquimbo, 

 from which it receives its original name ; but Valdivia 

 called it La Serena, from the province in Old Spain in 

 which he was born. The town is delightfully situated at 

 the distance of a quarter of a league from the sea on the 

 river Coquimbo, and commands an extensive prospect 

 of the ocean, the river, and the surrounding fields and 

 woods. The streets are straight and broad, and stretch 

 ing from north to south, and from east to west, they 

 form squares of buildings, the wide spaces between the 

 squares being entirely occupied by gardens planted 

 with fruit trees and esculent vegetables. The houses 

 are built of mud and covered with leaves, and their 

 mean appearance is taken away by the richness of the 

 gardens. 



The principal public buildings are the parish churches, 

 five convents belonging to the Franciscans, the Domini- 

 cans, the Augustines, the Fathers of Mercy, and to St Juan 

 de Dios, and a college formerly belonging to the Jesuits. 

 The churches belonging to these orders are large and 

 respectable. The parish church forms part of the great 

 square, and on the opposite side is the town-house 

 where the corporation meets, which consists of the cor- 

 regidor, the alcaldes, and the regidores. The river Co- 

 quimbo runs on the north side of the town, and by 

 means of canals supplies the town with water for the 

 use of the gardens. There is a fine bay at the mouth 

 of the river, where ships can ride in security, and at 

 the port of Coquimbo, two leagues distant from the 

 city, several vessels from Peru load annually. When 

 Ulloa visited Coquimbo, the population did not exceed 

 four or five hundred families, consisting of Spaniards, 

 Mestezos, and a few Indians. West Long. 71° 19' 15", 

 South Lat. 29° 54' 40". See Ulloa's Voyage to South 

 America, book viii. chap. viii. vol. ii. p. 267, and Mo- 

 lini's Account of Chili, vol. i. p. 296. (*-) 



CORAL Fishery. The ornamental purposes to 

 which coral has long been applied, and the confidence in 

 its virtues entertained by the older physicians, have ren- 

 dered its acquisition an object of considerable anxiety. 

 The quantities accidentally detached from submarine 

 recesses, and occasionally washed ashore, being insuffi- 

 cient to supply the demand, different means have been 

 adopted to withdraw it from the places of its natural 

 vegetation. 



The more valuable species of coral are peculiar to the 

 warmer climates; and in some of these, divers are ac- 

 customed to descend in quest of it, carrying down a 

 sponge dipped in oil. As the effect of oil is to tran- 

 quillize the surface of the sea, by allowing a small por- 

 tion to escape, the waves are lulled, and light can pe- 

 netrate below. But coral being generally produeed at 

 great depths in the sea, and requiring both tkue an* 



Copying 

 Machine 



